Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Dr Farooq Sattar on Tuesday assailed the Sindh government for its “inaction, apathy, and corruption spanning over two decades”, which, he said, resulted in the Gul Plaza inferno.

A fire erupted on Saturday night at Karachi’s Gul Plaza, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 23 people, with dozens still missing.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly today, the MQM leader maintained that it was “the right of the people of Karachi to question the Sindh government as well as the Centre over where exactly Karachi lies on their list of priorities”.

Sattar claimed that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah arrived at the site of the incident “22 hours” after the fire broke out. Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab also arrived late, he said.

“This shows how apathetic they are,” he added

Sattar paid tribute to the firefighter Furqan Ali, who embraced martyrdom while battling the deadly fire.

“Someone will have to take responsibility and ask for forgiveness from the people for their inaction”.

“Three years of their mayorship […] they are building futsal and padel grounds,” Sattar said.

He held that Karachi remained “undercounted, underrepresented, and underfunded”. The MQM leader further said that the city lacked firefighting capability for its size.

He called on the government to “take ownership of Karachi” and further requested that the “there should be a consensus that this is a national tragedy”.

The MQM leader called for the creation of administrative units for better governance and strengthening local government systems.

“Such a huge burden can not be shouldered by a chief minister alone,” he said.

“These powers should instead be handed over to the mayor, town chairman, UC chairman”.

He recalled that MQM had also advocated for the inclusion of a clause aimed at strengthening local government bodies in the 28th Constitutional Amendment.

“Creating an administrative unit is not the division of geography; it is an administrative division, a division of justice and resources,” Sattar maintained.

Sattar urged people not to politicise the issue of local governments.

Shifting his attention back to the incident, the MQM leader said, “This fire was not only in Gul Plaza but in the hearts of the people of Karachi as well”.

“For the past 18 years, the government has been led by one party, which does not hold Karachi’s mandate but that of the rest of Sindh, so how are they allowed to dictate the fate of Karachi?” Sattar said.

“What kind of democracy is this?” he asked.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, speaking during the session, echoed Sattar’s proposal, stating that it is “not humanly possible to manage Karachi in its present structure”.

“If we want to empower the people in a true sense, we will have to bring in the local government system,” Asif said.

He stressed that due to the 18th Amendment, all powers regarding administration had been assigned to the provincial government.

“If there is any local government, they do not have any powers,” he added.

The minister recalled that in the 28th Amendment, “we proposed that there should be a system for local government”.

“Despite consensus on developing a system for local government in the 18th Amendment, but as usual because of political wrangling but the clause was withdrawn,” he maintained.

“If we truly want to represent the people of Pakistan, then provide them representation in their own neighbourhoods,” the minister said.

He held that, “if local government systems are not strengthened, then the defence ministry, the navy and the aviation will be doing your work for you”.

He claimed that “local government elections were not even allowed to be held”.

He maintained that this was done so that the “power could not be transferred to the grass roots level”.

He went on to say, “This incident and the subsequent collapse of the fire brigade system are a clear signal that the country needs a system — across tehsils, neighbourhoods, and provinces — where people feel empowered and can hold their representatives accountable”.

PPP leader Shehla Raza objected to the claims made by Sattar, stating that, “it is not necessary for ministers to show up when such an incident happens”.

Rather, she maintained that it was more important to handle the situation.

“At 10:26pm, the incident was reported, and one fire vehicle from each Central Fire Station and the Saddar Fire Station was dispatched,” she said.

She continued: “Around 10:45pm, the first responders informed the chief fire officer of the scale of the fire, and that more fire tenders should be sent”.

“16 fire tenders, four snorkels, and two water browsers were sent,” she said.

She admitted that there was a delay due to traffic in the area.

“I am not defending anything, but such fires have been reported before in states like California as well,” she said.

Addressing the issue of local governments, Raza clarified: “There is an impression being made that there is no local government system in Sindh”.

“Sindh is the only province where local government systems are working,” she stressed.