• Alleges 18th Amendment divided country into ‘four independent states’
• At separate presser, Farooq Sattar claims Sindh to have six administrative units soon

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leader and Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal has said his party wants “administrative restructuring of Sindh without altering its boundaries”.

“We want administrative units with their own assemblies and chief executives, where National Finance Commission [NFC] funds are directly transferred,” he told a press conference here at the party’s temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad on Saturday.

However, the absence of party chairman Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and senior leader Dr Farooq Sattar from Mr Kamal’s press conference suggested that the party’s internal rifts over leadership control are far from over.

In the evening, Dr Sattar held a separate press conference, conspicuous by Mr Kamal’s absence, where he announced a rally to be held on Sunday (today) and claimed that six administrative units would soon be created in Sindh.

At the first press conference, Mr Kamal said that the 18th Amendment had practically divided the country into “four independent states” and the MQM-P wanted to unite the country through the creation of new administrative units.

Accompanied by senior leader Anis Kaimkhani and others, he made it clear that whoever leads the campaign for administrative units — whether a person, institution, or ruler — will be their hero for saving Pakistan.

“The PPP is furious [over new administrative units] because they realise the sun is setting on their power and the public will now hold them accountable,” he said, accusing the ruling party of “conspiring to associate the entire Sindhi nation with some corrupt beneficiaries of the current system”.

Mr Kamal said that the PPP can no longer hide its bad governance behind the so-called Sindh card, nor can it “engineer Sindhi-Mohajir riots”.

“If bloodshed was bound to happen, it would have occurred over the spread of HIV/AIDS among children via infected syringes at Valika Hospital, Karachi and Larkana; the denial of drinking water; innocent people being crushed under dumpers; deaths from falling into open manholes; citizens being murdered for Rs10,000 mobile phones; the denial of government jobs; the selling of urban Sindh’s quota on fake domiciles; and rampant bribery in every government department,” he said.

“Just past Hyderabad, the interior of Sindh tells a tragic tale of destruction, devastation and corruption. MQM-Pakistan is fighting the case of these oppressed Sindhis.

We assure Sindhi nation that after the formation of administrative units, their lives, property and honour will be far more secure than today,” he said.

Commenting on remarks made by a senior PPP leader against Field Marshal Asim Munir, he said it “exposed the ruling party’s malice, hatred and enmity towards institutions”.

“The time has come for the state to decide whether to save Pakistan or cater to the whims of the PPP,” he said.

Strongly condemning the attacks on Saudi Arabia, Mr Kamal said that every worker of his party was ready to sacrifice their life for the protection and sanctity of Makkah and Madina. “We have defence pacts with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, and whatever decision the state makes in this regard, we will fully support it,” he said.

MQM-P to stage rally today

Later in the day, senior MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar told another press conference that six administrative units are going to be created in Sindh very soon.

Although he did not elaborate, his remarks seem to suggest that he was talking about Sindh’s existing six divisions — Karachi, Hyderabad, Suk­kur, Larkana, Mirpur­khas and Shaheed Benazir­abad.

He said the MQM-P was organising a rally on Sunday (today) from Ayesha Manzil to Mazar-i-Quaid in favour of the demand for new administrative units and provinces in the country.

He said that for the past 18 years, the public has been deprived of an empowered local government system and education, health and employment facilities.

“When the system of governance fails, the transfer of authority and power to the grassroots level becomes mandatory; therefore, we are talking about establishing new administrative units,” he said.

He appealed to citizens belonging to all ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, particularly youths, to participate in large numbers in the rally and play their full role against the status quo.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2026