Pakistani lawmaker Syed Mustafa Kamal juxtaposed Bharat’s remarkable achievements with the dire circumstances in Karachi, highlighting Bharat’s lunar exploration mission. The leader of the Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan or MQM-P pointed out the stark contrast: while Bharat celebrates its milestones in space, Karachi grapples with tragic incidents, such as children losing their lives due to accidents in open gutters.
“Today, the condition in Karachi is that, while the world is going to the moon, children are dying by falling into gutter in Karachi. On the same screen, there is news that Bharat landed on the moon, and just after two seconds, the news is that a child died in an open gutter in Karachi,” mentioned Kamal in his address to the Parliament.
Additionally, the MQM-P leader pinpointed towards the scarcity of fresh water in Karachi. Referring to a report, he noted there are approximately 7 million children in Karachi alone and over 26 million Pakistani children, who are unable to attend school.
“Karachi is the revenue engine of Pakistan. The two seaports operational in Pakistan since its inception, are both in Karachi. We (Karachi) are the gateway to the entire Pakistan, Central Asia to Afghanistan… For 15 years, Karachi was not given even a bit of fresh water. Even the water that came, the tanker mafia hoarded it and sold it to the people of Karachi,” narrated Kamal.
“We have a total of 48,000 schools, but a new report says that out of that 11,000 are ‘ghost schools’. As many as, 70 lakh children in Sindh don’t go to school and a total of 2,62,00,000 children in the country don’t go to school… if we just focus on this, the leaders of the country shouldn’t even get proper sleep,” added the Pakistani Parliamentarian.
In August last year, Bharat’s Chandrayaan 3 lander accomplished a significant feat by safely reaching the lunar surface, marking the nation’s maiden spacecraft to do so. Bharat also distinguished itself as the first country globally to successfully land on the moon’s South Pole.
Meanwhile, Pakistan, grappling with economic turmoil, high inflation rates, and escalating debt, seeks assistance through a new loan program from the International Monetary Fund under the Extended Fund Facility.
A delegation from the IMF is presently engaged in discussions with Pakistani officials on this matter. The IMF has urged Islamabad to implement robust cost-side reforms to revitalise the country’s energy sector and advocated for a comprehensive overhaul of the tax system, as reported by ARY News.
While Pakistan recently concluded a short-term USD 3 billion program, averting a sovereign default, government authorities highlight the necessity for a fresh, longer-term initiative, as pointed out by Dawn.
