MQM condemns govt for 'anti-people steps'
By Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Sept 1: MQM Coordination Committee deputy convener Senator Aftab Sheikh on Wednesday condemned the government for adopting "anti-people steps" and giving step-motherly treatment to the smaller provinces, particularly Sindh.

Addressing a news conference at the Lahore Press Club the MQM senator said the centre should have control only over defence, currency, communications and foreign affairs, handing over all other subjects to the provinces.

He accused the government of violating the constitution and laws. The government had been turned into a "family affair" and there was no protection to the people who were being killed through extra-judicial means.

Mr Sheikh said all democratic norms were being violated in Sindh which was given a negligible share from the public sector development programme. He said the government had imposed 15 per cent general sales tax on essential items only to appease the IMF and to receive its loan installment of $280 million. This had caused unprecedented inflation in the country.

Mr Sheikh said the government would collect Rs 56 billion through the GST, and of this Rs 35 billion will be collected from Karachi alone which was already paying Rs 210 billion in taxes.

He said prices of commodities had registered a 32 per cent increase during the two-and-a-half year rule of Mr Nawaz Sharif, creating a tremendous sense of insecurity among the smaller provinces which were being considered as colonies.

The MQM senator said the prime minister's housing scheme would not benefit the common citizens as small houses were being offered to them at a high cost of up to Rs 1.5 million. "This scheme is being launched only to provide a chance to near and dear ones to pocket national wealth," he alleged.