By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a key coalition partner in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, voiced strong opposition in the Senate on Monday to recent calls for the creation of a separate Karachi province, insisting the city remains an inseparable part of Sindh.
The upper house echoed with the PPP’s displeasure two days after the Sindh Assembly passed a resolution declaring Karachi an “inseparable” part of the province and rejecting any suggestion to the contrary. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) had opposed that resolution, calling it unconstitutional.
PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman sharply criticised statements by certain federal ministers, in an apparent reference to MQM-P figures Mustafa Kamal and Khaliq Maqbool Siddiqui. “Such reckless talk was not only unconstitutional but also a direct provocation to the unity of the federation,” she told the house. “Let me be clear: the PPP is the custodian of Sindh’s unity and no one will be allowed to undermine it.”
Rehman reminded senators that Sindh had always welcomed people from across the country and had shared its resources with Pakistan since 1947. “To hear suggestions about dividing Karachi or Sindh is deeply alarming. This is not just an attack on a province, it is an attack on Pakistan itself,” she said.
Rehman stressed that any change to a province’s boundaries was a constitutional issue requiring a two-thirds majority in parliament. “Those floating these ideas should first read the Constitution. Constitutional divisions require democratic majorities, not press conferences,” she added.
Turning to the MQM-P, she said the party had served in successive administrations. “Our friends in MQM-P have always been part of the federal government. They have governed with every administration. May God grant them even more respect, but let no one confuse local political debates with a licence to redraw provincial maps,” Rehman said. She recalled the words of PPP founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto that no one would be allowed to divide Pakistanis on the basis of language or identity. “This party has shed blood, borne lashes, and endured imprisonment to uphold that principle,” she said, adding that Sindh had faced “backdoor conspiracies” in the past.
Rehman warned that the PPP held the majority in Sindh and dismissed any challenge to that position. “If that bothers someone, what can we do? If they want a majority, then earn it the democratic way — face the people, earn their votes, and withstand the political struggle like PPP workers have always done,” she said. “From Shaheed Benazir Bhutto to President Asif Ali Zardari, our leadership has spent years behind bars for democracy. We have always put Pakistan before politics,” she added. “Anyone dreaming of dividing Sindh should abandon this dangerous fantasy. We know how to resist, we know how to oppose, and we will not tolerate any assault on Pakistan’s federal unity. This behaviour is unacceptable and will never be allowed to succeed.”
Later in the debate, PPP Senator Syed Waqar Mehdi said his party had always worked for the people regardless of how any area voted. He noted that both the MQM-P and Jamaat-i-Islami had each produced three Karachi mayors. “What had these six mayors given to Karachi? Nothing,” Mehdi said, claiming that the PPP’s tenure as mayor had produced better results. He also pointed to an education conference held at the Governor’s House, attended by Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, but lamented that no substantive discussion on education had taken place. The exchange highlights tensions within the ruling coalition over the status and governance of Pakistan’s largest city and economic hub.
MQM-P Senator Khalida Ateeb opposed a resolution passed by the Sindh Assembly on dividing the province into rural and urban areas, calling it against the Constitution. She said the proposal had come from the PPP-led Sindh government and questioned who had introduced the quota system. Ateeb made clear that her party had never advocated dividing Sindh but noted that calls for administrative units exist in all provinces.
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