KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has once again called for making this largest city as a separate province and suggested a string of administrative divisions of the existing four provinces.
Hussain made the demand in an address at the Jinnah Ground, packed party supporters jubilant over the victory in local government elections at the cantonment areas of Sindh province on Saturday.
The celebrations were already going on after the party candidate defeated the Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) on Thursday at a national assembly seat which had become pulsating moment in the Pakistani politics.
“The demand of making Karachi an exclusive province was made by the urban residents of the [Sindh] province,” he told the rally and added, “It was not my demand.”
He further said that in order to create a harmonious and just sociopolitical environment in the country, 20 more provinces should be carved out of existing four provinces in the country.
Hussain also congratulate the followers for the party topped the local government elections in the Sindh province by securing 19 seats emerging as the third largest party country wide.
However, chief minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who is also a senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), lamented the Hussain demand calling it “inappropriate”.
Talking to a group of journalists in Sukkur city, Shah said that the PPP had already it clear that the division of Sindh was not acceptable.
A PPP senator in Hyderabad also reacted on the demand saying that creation of another province out of Sindh carried such gravity that it could lead to bloodshed in the province.
The senator Ejaz Dhamra, addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, criticised Hussain for gimmicks to appease his voters and supporters.
Currently, four provinces exist in Pakistan: Sindh, the Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, each named after their ethnic population.