Remarks of the judge of the Supreme Court are outright affront of the mandate of the people of Karachi
The Co-ordination Committee of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) has urged President Asif Zardari, the Federal Government, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr Justice Iftakhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other impartial judges of the Supreme Court to take notice of the observation made by a judge of the bench hearing Karachi Lawlessness case that delimitation of constituencies in Karachi should be done in a manner that no single party has a monopoly. It expressed concerns on the remarks of the judge of the Supreme Court and termed it unconstitutional, undemocratic, prejudicial and outright affront to the mandate given by the people of Karachi.
The Co-ordination Committee declared that equating the majority of a political party, obtained through democratic means, with a monopoly is not only unconstitutional but also smacks of prejudice dictatorial attitude. Free and fair elections give people the right to give their mandate to the party of their choice in their constituency. One political party or another commands the popular support of the majority of the people across different cities of Pakistan. If the remarks made by a certain member of the bench are valid and justified in the case of Karachi, why a similar approach is not adopted for the rest of the country so that no political party has a majority and monopoly in any city.
The Co-ordination Committee said that delimitations of electoral constituencies are done throughout the world after holding census, and the same should happen in Pakistan. The observation of the bench on the delimitation of constituencies in Karachi would deepen the sense of alienation among the people of Karachi.
The Co-ordination Committee said that if lawlessness in Karachi is a justification for the observation of the court, then the situation in Balochistan is worse than Karachi, where even the national flag of Pakistan cannot be raised.
The entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is also in the grip of an unending wave of terrorism and where suicide attacks and bomb blasts have become commonplace occurrence. Schools, mosques, imambargahs, shrines, other places of worships, check posts of police and other law-enforcing agencies and government buildings are being blown there, but no such remarks are forthcoming there. It asked why such prejudicial remarks have been given regarding Karachi alone.