MQM Pakistan Deputy Convenor Farooq Sattar has said that there has been looting and corruption in Karachi for the last 15 years.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader was addressing on Sunday night a public rally here held to mobilise the party workers and masses for upcoming general elections likely early next year.
Dr Sattar said the people of Liaquatabad have given their decision in favour of the MQM-P.
Regarding Karachi, he said the city would progress if the management was given in the hands of its people.
He demanded that all victims of "forced disappearance" be recovered immediately. "The MQM-P obeys the constitution and abides by the law," he added.
He called Liaquatabad mini-Pakistan and said if the people of Liaquatabad stood up, the government in Islamabad would fall.
Dr Sattar said Nawaz Sharif has returned to Pakistan, now Karachi must also return to the national mainstream.
Earlier, senior deputy convener and former Karachi mayor Syed Mustafa Kamal said the MQM-P rejected 18th Amendment to the Constitution and demanded that the historic legislation be further amended to protect financial issues of districts.
He criticised the People’s Party (PPP) and rejected the amendment “that the PPP got passed in the name of provincial autonomy.”
Kamal demanded another amendment be made [to the Constitution] to ensure that funds transferred to the provinces [by the Centre] are fairly distributed to districts.
In a veiled reference to the Altaf Hussain-led MQM, commonly known as MQM-London, Kamal claimed that it [PPP] has joined hands with “enemies” living abroad against hose living in the country.
MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said the Sindh government provided only 10pc of its budget to districts. The MQM-P was against “feudal democracy,” he added.
He said the MQM-P did not want division of Sindh. “We want to bridge the gulf between urban and rural areas in the province and we already have given sacrifices for this,” he said.
Nasreen Jalil also spoke on the occasion.
Earlier, on the appeal of senior MQM-P leader Anis Kaimkhani, the audience observed a moment of silence for the people of Palestine.