Sindh Senior Minister and Provincial Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit, Sharjeel Inam Memon, said that Farooq Sattar can speak Urdu as eloquently and fluently as he wants and use metaphors, but he cannot distort the truth. When Farooq Sattar’s federal minister Mustafa Kamal talked about the 18th Amendment, we told them that Farooq Sattar, as mayor, and Jamaat-e-Islami’s Nazims had a role in the lease and violation of laws related to Gul Plaza. All these illegal actions took place before the 18th Amendment.
In a statement responding to the press conference of MQM leaders, he said that Farooq Sattar cannot deny the fact that he had a direct and indirect role in the decisions that led to a tragedy like Gul Plaza.
Sharjeel Inam Memon said that renewal, mutation, and regularization papers were being signed at a time when Farooq Sattar was the Mayor of Karachi, and the responsibility of urban planning was on his shoulders. Farooq Sattar is now trying to absolve himself of responsibility.
He said that historical records and official documents clearly show that the foundation of illegal construction and irregular regularization in Karachi was laid during this period, when violations of the law were regularized and given legal protection. In fact, a culture of unsafe buildings was promoted in the city.
Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the Gul Plaza tragedy was not the result of a single day’s negligence, but the logical outcome of decades of wrong decisions and administrative shortcomings. Those who laid the foundation for these wrong decisions cannot escape accountability today. He said that today the people of Karachi are asking that if the foundation was laid wrongly, who will be held accountable for its consequences. The people of Karachi want the truth, and the truth is that those who justified illegal construction are morally and politically accountable today.