Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Friday said that no one in Sindh would be left unemployed if the province which generates the country’s 70 percent revenue was given its due share.
Addressing a party rally in Sukkur via telephone, Altaf said the MQM was the country’s only party which had not signed the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. He said the MQM was opposed to the Kalabagh hydropower project because the people of Sindh had rejected it.
“It is time for the people of Sindh to decide if they will elect MQM’s candidates selected from the poor and middle class, and inflict a crushing defeat on the feudal lords,” he said.
Speaking to the Sindhi nationalists, the MQM chief said, “Your politics of divide and rule have come to an end. The Urdu-speaking Sindhis and the Sindhi-speaking Sindhis have united.”
“Sindh contributes over 70 percent to the national exchequer. If given its share according to its population and contribution, unemployment will end and feudalism will be uprooted. Schools will be opened, centres for women’s development will be built, and technical universities would be set up. The people of Sindh will work hard and provide a life of dignity and honour for their children,” Altaf said.
“How long will the people of Sindh continue to lead a life of helplessness before the feudal lords and not think about changing their circumstances? Today Sindh needs a genuine leadership instead of thieves and robbers,” he added. “We should remove the distinction of new Sindhi and old Sindhi by embracing each other. We are all Sindhis.”
The MQM chief said that Sukkur had always been a neglected district, and urged the federal and provincial governments, of which the MQM is a coalition partner, to allocate addition funds for development projects in Sukkur.
He said the government should build a university and a medical college in Sukkur to provide higher and technical education to local students.
“Electricity and gas supply in Sukkur and its adjoining areas should be ensured,” he added. Altaf announced a grant of Rs 1 million for Sukkur Press Club, and called for establishing an institution to provide training to journalists. Talking about the recent sectarian killings in Karachi, he said that Shia and Sunni lawyers and doctors had been under a conspiracy to destabilise the Pakistani society. He sympathised with the bereaved family members of the victims.
Unemployment to end if Sindh gets its due share, says Altaf
