Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has said that time is most ripe to develop Karachi as other issues like law and order issues, terrorism, and strikes had been dealt with. He was talking to a group of journalists here on Wednesday. “You are well aware about the past problems of Karachi as there was so many deaths due to violence, oppression, and factional fighting as these issues are no more present as all we need is to sit together and do the planning for development of the city,” said Sarwar as he talked about mainly ethnic-based violent clashes in Karachi among different communities and political parties during the previous decades especially in the 1990s. During his special visit of the city devastated by the last spell of torrential monsoon rains he was accompanied by concerned charity leaders and philanthropists from Punjab for emergency aid of the disaster-hit people in the province. He also went to Badin, another coastal town of Sindh hit hard due to heavy rains, to help the affected people there. He said that every concerned stakeholder was under obligation to have its focus on Karachi for its progress as the provincial capital was the hub of the country’s economy and industry. “Everyone has to be on one page for development of Karachi,” he said. The governor said that a situation of partnership between the Sindh province and federal government had been emerging for the cause of Karachi’s development. “Every concerned quarter should now realize that it is time to do justice with Karachi as so much damage was done to the city due to riots, clashes, and fighting but now we are fortunate that we have realization of this loss,” he said. He said that Karachi accounted for most of the revenue generated in Pakistan as the concerned philanthropists of the city had also generously donated whenever there was any national-level disaster in the country. He said that people of Karachi after the situation of COVID-19 pandemic had emerged more organized and aware about their problems as compared to the past. “This situation is going to compel us to work for Karachi as both the federal and provincial governments will become active in this regard,” said Sarwar who prior to 2013 was active in the UK’s politics as in 1997 he became the first Muslim member of the British Parliament
