HYDERABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement MNA Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and members of MQM coordination committee have expressed serious concern over transfer of 2,800-acre land reserved for Gulistan-i-Sarmast to a private firm and called for unveiling people behind the massive land scam.

Mr Siddiqui, flanked by Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani, Rashid Khilji, Dilawar Qureshi, Waseem Hussain and others, said at a press conference at the press club on Sunday that besides the 2,800-acre, the Rubicon Builders and Developers had additionally been made owner of 18,000 acres in Deh Ganjo Takkar as per agreement signed between the firm and the Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA).

He wondered when the HDA did not own the land how could it sign an agreement for it. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched an investigation into the mega corruption scandal involving officials of HDA, he said.

Mr Siddiqui demanded the real faces behind the massive corruption should be exposed and a probe should be conducted against the authority and its officials who had been made a party in the deal with the firm.

He said that a separate investigation should be launched against the secretary and members of the Board of Revenue, land utilisation department and Sindh chief minister for turning a blind eye to the scam.

What was strange, he said, was the fact that the HDA which had delayed for years many housing projects including Gulshan-i-Quaid, Kohsar Extension and Gulistan-i-Sarmast had suddenly awarded another project to a firm.

It was government’s duty to provide cheap and economical residence and land for building homes to people but sadly it was itself swallowing up all land across the province, he said.

Mr Siddiqui urged the government to cancel the agreement, take back the land and hand it back to the department concerned, and evolve a strategy to provide cheaper residential plots like those given under the Gulistan-i-Sarmast scheme to people of Hyderabad.

He alluded to what he called ‘crownless king of corruption’ and accused him of misusing government machinery to loot resources of Hyderabad. He and his cronies must be exposed immediately, he said.

He said that Supreme Court had already declared as suspicious all land deals of the Sindh government and the Transparency International too had raised questions over them.

He said the government had made HDA a party in Gulistan-i-Sarmast land and got it transferred to the private firm by misusing powers and government machinery for personal interests without following legal procedure.

Answering a question, Mr Siddiqui said that if NAB showed bias in conducting probes, action must be taken against it but if rulers were trying to amend NAB laws to safeguard their own interests it would not be acceptable. If the amendments were made to further improve the law, they would be accepted, he said.

He suggested investigation should be conducted against all cases of China-cutting starting from Musharraf government. MQM would support all investigations if conducted in a fair and transparent manner, he said.

Published in Dawn, February 29th, 2016