KARACHI (HRNW) – Senior MQM-P leader and MNA Dr. Farooq Sattar, alongside Syed Amin-ul-Haque, Former Mayor Waseem Akhtar, and Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Ali Khurshidi, held an emergency press conference at Hill Park to condemn rampant land grabbing, environmental destruction, and institutional corruption in the metropolis.
Addressing the media, Dr. Farooq Sattar strictly criticized the local administration and the provincial government for patronizing land mafias over the last 18 years. He revealed that just 15 days prior to the press conference, a portion of Hill Park’s natural hill was cut down to carve out an illegal plot with no record in the PECHS master plan. He accused the KMC Director Land, Director Parks, and PECHS officials of issuing illegal NOCs in exchange for heavy bribes, demanding a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry and a High Court suo motu notice. Sattar also criticized Jamaat-e-Islami for its silence over a 983-square-yard illegal allotment under the Clifton Lily Bridge due to its legal advisor’s affiliation.
Speaking on the occasion, Waseem Akhtar recalled MQM’s past judicial battles in 2018 and 2019 to demolish illegal structures at Bagh Ibne Qasim, Nehr-e-Khayyam, and Empress Market, warning that encroachments are resurfacing at Beach View and Benazir Bhutto Park. The leadership urged the establishment to intervene against the provincial government’s mismanagement. Furthermore, Dr. Sattar praised the educational initiatives of former Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori, condemned discrepancies in the MDCAT exams for Karachi’s students, and reiterated MQM’s 35-year-old demand for municipal autonomy through the implementation of Article 140-A via the 28th Constitutional Amendment.
