Sindh govt directs to change names of places kept after MQM founder, his relatives

KARACHI: The Sindh government directed on Saturday to right away change names of all the thoroughfares, streets and places which have been kept after the London-based founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and his relatives.

The provincial government has sought reports in this regard from the relevant departments , including the commissioner Karachi, health department, local government, education, the municipal commissioner Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and deputy commissioners of all the districts.

The government in a letter has identified 51 such locations with the undesirable names and asked the deputy commissioners of all the districts in the megacity to give details of implementation of the order.

The decision to this effect had been taken on December 30, 2017, by the Sindh cabinet and on March 18, 2018, by the Sindh Apex Committee.

Read More: Mukka Chowk notified as ‘Shaheed-e-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan Chowk’

The Sindh government has asked the DCs to point out if there were more locations other than the identified in the letter and provide details about changing of the names by November 27 following which the reports would be presented in the Sindh Apex Committee meeting to be chaired by the Sindh chief minister.

The list of the places identified by the provincial government includes names of 18 parks, 17 schools, one university, two libraries, four dispensaries, seven streets, one bridge, one underpass, two community halls and one cricket academy. All these places are named after the MQM’s founder, his father, Nazeer Hussain, his wife, Khursheed Begum and daughter, Afza Altaf, reads a press release issued by the Sindh government.

Earlier, campuses of Altaf Hussain University in Karachi and Hyderabad were named Abdul Sattar Edhi and Fatima Jinnah. In 2016, Mukka Chowk was named Liaquat Ali Khan Chowk.