The Save Sindh Committee (SSC) demanded on Friday that people from other provinces should not have the right to cast their votes in Sindh as ‘their huge influx threatens the unity of Sindh.’
Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Friday, the SSC – including permanent residents of Sindh including Sindhi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Baloch intellectuals – also blamed the current turmoil in Karachi on the same phenomenon.
In their press conference, Saleha Athar, Dr Tipu Sultan, Muqtarah Mansoor, Yousuf Masti Khan and Abdul Khaliq Junejo said that the basic question was not the commissionerate or the nazim system, but the threat to identification and unity of Sindh.
“We want to make it clear that Karachi is not mini-Pakistan. It is a historical city of Sindh and its capital, whose identification must remain safe. Therefore, necessary steps should be taken to minimise the number of people migrating to the city. Migration to Sindh and its citizenship should be restricted for people from other parts of the country,” they said.
Replying to a series of questions, the SSC members said that people from other provinces should not use Sindh for pursuing their own provincial interests; whereas, settlement in Karachi from other provinces should also be restricted. “Like Kashmir, where non-Kashmiris do not have the right of vote or hold properties, people from other provinces can live in Sindh as immigrants, but they should not have the right to vote and hold properties,” they said.
The SSC leaders said that if the international players want to hold on to the city of Sindh, they must review their strategy and accept the ownership of Sindhi people on the cities of Sindh. “It is also wrong that Karachi belongs to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). In the last general elections, 1.7 million votes were cast but the MQM could only get 0.6 million votes, while 0.9 million votes went to candidates from other parties,” they claimed, adding that the Sindhi identification of the city of Karachi and the entire province is being changed deliberately.
“After partition, a large number of refugees were accepted by Sindh. Moreover, people from other provinces and countries arrived in Karachi looking for employment. “But afterwards, through planning, more people from other provinces and countries are settling here to serve vested interests. “Now the situation for original identification of Sindhi people, their cities and culture has worsened. But any attempt to break Sindh or tamper its identification will be strongly resisted,” said the SSC leaders.
