Muttahida set to launch street movement for new administrative units

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has launched a major mobilisation campaign for the creation of new administrative units, with party chairman Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui announcing on Sunday a “historic rally” on Sharea Faisal on Nov 29 as part of the movement’s push for constitutional and administrative reforms.

Addressing a workers’ convention held at KMC Park in PIB Colony, Dr Siddiqui said the time had come for the oppressed to unite against “an entrenched system of feudal domination and family-based politics.”

A large number of party activists, including women, attended the event. MQM-P leaders credited the success of their show to former Karachi Tanzeemi Committee in-charge Hammad Siddiqui, who they said was overseeing organisational affairs from behind the scenes.

However, senior leader Mustafa Kamal and his close aides were conspicuous by their absence.

Khalid Maqbool announces rally on Sharea Faisal on Nov 29; calls for referendum to determine will of people on new provinces

Dr Siddiqui, who is federal education minister, called for referendums under the Constitution to determine the will of the people on the creation of new administrative units in Sindh and the three other provinces.

He argued that the existing provincial structure had failed to deliver inclusive governance and equitable distribution of resources.

“The era of feudal democracy has run its course. The establishment of new administrative units has become the country’s destiny,” he said, adding that the Nov 29 rally would mark a significant step in the party’s campaign.

Dr Siddiqui said the party wanted political power and national resources to reach neighbourhoods and ordinary citizens rather than remain concentrated in the hands of influential families.

He said that a democratic system could not be considered representative if workers and ordinary people lacked a voice in parliament.

Responding to questions about the proposed province, he said the migrants who had come to Pakistan had sacrificed their properties in India for the sake of the new country.

Senior MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar, addressing the gathering, said the existing four-province arrangement had become a mechanism for sustaining the dominance of a handful of political families.

He called for participatory and inclusive governance at the grassroots level, arguing that administrative restructuring was essential to address growing urban challenges and public grievances.

He also criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party for its mismanagement of Sindh over the past 18 years. He said that the proposed administrative units would not undermine Sindh’s cultural identity, adding that the party would continue to embrace Sindhi traditions, including the cap and ajrak.

Former Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar urged workers to remain united under Dr Siddiqui’s leadership, saying the party’s supporters had stood by the organisation through difficult times.

The meeting was also attended by senior party leaders Syed Aminul Haque, Sindh Assembly Opposition Leader Ali Khurshidi, members of the party’s coordination committee, lawmakers and a large number of workers from district East.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2026