KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said on Sunday that his party never called for the creation of a ‘Mohajir or Karachi’ province as it wanted the creation of more provinces on administrative lines.

“We are not talking about a Mohajir or Karachi province...We are demanding more and more administrative units in the country for its prosperity and progress,” he told reporters at the annual charity programme of the Khidmat-i-Khalq Foundation (KKF) here.

Referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent statement that his party was not in favour of the creation of a new province in Sindh, Dr Siddiqui said: “Give us even one reason that more provinces can be carved out of Punjab and other federating units and not in Sindh.”

He claimed that the prime minister through his representatives conveyed to the MQM-P that his viewpoint on new provinces was not presented correctly and the stance of his coalition parties was presented in the media as that of him.

Dr Khalid Maqbool says PM’s stance on new provinces not communicated correctly

Only last week, the PM while presiding over a meeting with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional and other coalition partners said: “The PTI is against the creation of another province in Sindh. After introduction of the PTI’s new local bodies system there would be no need for any kind of division in the province.”

Dr Siddiqui, who is also the federal minister for information technology and telecom, said the procedure of making new provinces was part of the country’s Constitution and it was not treason to demand new administrative units.

He said it was the stated position of the MQM-P that more administrative units be made keeping in view the growing population of the country. “Not making new provinces is a treasonous act,” he added.

He pledged that the MQM-P would never take any step against the interest of Sindh as it did not want any bitterness.

Without naming the Pakistan Peoples Party, he alleged that one party had divided Sindh on a linguistic basis.

Talking about the KKF, the charity wing of the MQM-P, he said it could not serve the maximum deserving and underprivileged people because of unannounced restrictions on its working. He said the KKF should not be punished for the “mistakes of a single individual”.

He said that despite problems, the KKF was giving handouts to over 10,000 deserving people.

Senior leaders Kanwar Naveed Jameel, Nasreen Jalil, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar and others were also present.

Meanwhile, disgruntled MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar rejected the prime minister’s statement on new province.

Speaking at an iftar dinner hosted by him here, he demanded that work on both phases of the K-IV water supply project should begin immediately.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2019