Sharjeel Memon blames MQM,JI past mayors for Gul Plaza irregularities

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that MQM Pakistan leader Dr Farooq Sattar, during his time as Mayor of Karachi, along with administrators from Jamaat-e-Islami, played a role in the leasing of Gul Plaza and related violations of the law.

Responding to Farooq Sattar’s press conference, the senior provincial minister said that no matter how eloquently Farooq Sattar speaks or how many literary references he uses, he cannot distort the facts.

Sharjeel Memon stated that when Farooq Sattar’s party colleague and former federal minister Mustafa Kamal raised the issue of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the Sindh government had made it clear that these illegal actions took place before the amendment.

He said Farooq Sattar cannot deny the reality that the decisions which later led to tragedies such as the Gul Plaza incident involved his direct and indirect role.

The Sindh information minister said that at the time when documents related to the lease, mutation and regularisation of Gul Plaza were being signed, Farooq Sattar was serving as Karachi’s mayor and bore responsibility for urban planning.

He added that Farooq Sattar is now attempting to absolve himself of responsibility.

Sharjeel Memon said historical records and official documents clearly show that the foundations of illegal construction and unlawful regularisation in Karachi were laid during that period.

He added that by regularising violations and granting them legal cover, a culture of unsafe buildings was promoted across the city.

He further said that the Gul Plaza tragedy was not the result of negligence on a single day, but the logical outcome of decades of flawed decisions and administrative failures.

Those who laid the groundwork for these decisions, he said, cannot escape accountability today.

According to him, the people of Karachi are asking who will answer for the consequences if the very foundation was flawed.

Sharjeel Inam Memon concluded by saying that the people of Karachi want the truth, and the truth is that those who legitimised illegal constructions are morally and politically accountable today.