Opposition members of the Karachi City Council staged a protest outside the council meeting, criticizing what they described as biased actions by the Sindh government and the mayor’s office. The protest focused on the alleged unfair distribution of development funds and the preferential treatment given to union council chairmen affiliated with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Protestors displayed banners and placards demanding an end to discrimination in development projects and the fair distribution of funds.
The protesters’ placards read, “Stop discrimination by the Sindh government and the mayor,” “Say no to biased development work,” and “Give Karachi water or resign.” They also raised slogans against the Sindh government and the current mayor, accusing them of neglecting Karachi’s needs. Saifuddin Advocate, the opposition leader of the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Deputy Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi, along with PTI’s parliamentary leader Hafeez Mubashir and other council members, addressed the protest.
They criticized the PPP’s governance over the last 16 years, especially in Karachi. Saifuddin emphasized that despite PPP’s long rule, the people of Sindh, particularly Karachi, had seen little progress. He stated, “If PPP rules Sindh for another 116 years, nothing will change for the people of Karachi. The situation in interior Sindh is also known to all.”
He called for an equal distribution of Karachi’s development funds across all towns and demanded greater autonomy for union council chairmen, urging that all development projects be conducted under their supervision to curb corruption. Saifuddin also accused the Sindh government of awarding contracts without tenders, citing last year’s Rs 4 billion worth of contracts which, according to him, were lost to corruption with no visible progress in the city. He said, “We will inform the World Bank and the federal government how these billions are being misused through incompetence and corruption.”
The opposition leader also pointed out the ongoing issue of Karachi’s water crisis, with half the city still deprived of water after a break in the Water Board’s pipeline on University Road. He added that PPP was showing bias in the allocation of funds, noting that MQM members were given Rs 7 billion, but there were no visible improvements in the city.
He emphasized that Jamaat-e-Islami, with 500,000 votes in the local elections, and PTI, with 300,000 votes, represented the majority of Karachi’s population, but despite this, a mayor from PPP, with only 200,000 votes, was imposed on the city. Saifuddin called this situation a clear injustice to the citizens. Hafeez Mubashir also expressed his concerns, saying that the deterioration of the city began the day Mayor Murtaza Wahab’s name was placed on the mayor’s plaque.
He criticized the mayor’s alleged lack of concern for the people’s issues, calling for a new mayor to address the city’s problems effectively. The protest saw speeches from various members, including Qazi Syed Sadruddin and Junaid Makati from Jamaat-e-Islami, and PTI’s Zeeshan Zabe, Rafiq Afridi, Shazia Imran, and Jabeena Khatoon. The protestors called for a fairer and more transparent system, demanding the immediate attention of authorities to Karachi’s pressing issues.
