"Demanding Karachi be placed under federal control is not unconstitutional," said Federal Minister for Education and MQM-Pakistan senior leader Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui Thursday. Adds that if such a debate is branded as treason, then the relevant clauses should be removed from the constitution itself. He expressed these views while responding to media queries after a ceremony held at NED University under the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme. Dr. Siddiqui said the concerned federal minister had returned to the country and the matter could now be discussed at the appropriate forum. Commenting on the Gul Plaza tragedy, Dr. Siddiqui that dissatisfaction with the inquiry report was not limited to his party alone. "Even the Sindh government is not happy with the results," he said. Speaking about the worsening situation of the Federal Urdu University, he said funds had been allocated twice to the institution. An inquiry report, he added, was expected soon, but the real problem lay in undue interference. "People make recommendations and it interferes with accountability," he remarked. On the unusual delay in the appointment of a chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad, the federal minister said that the selection process had been conducted in a transparent manner and a summary had already been sent to the prime minister. "We still haven’t got it back. We will raise the matter with the Prime Minister as this important academic post should not remain vacant," he said. Earlier, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui in connection with the laptop distribution ceremony that the benefits of democracy now reached Karachi. "Karachi promised to build and maintain Pakistan. We are grateful to the Prime Minister of Pakistan for ensuring that students in Sindh receive laptops," he said. He noted that although the region had seen development over the past four decades, it had still fallen behind.
‘Centre to run Karachi’
