KARACHI: A rally organized by the student wing of a religious party in Pakistan’s southern Karachi port city on Saturday drew thousands of participants who marched toward the US Consulate to protest against the ongoing war in Gaza and advocate for an independent Palestinian state.
The rally attendees chanted slogans against the US and Israel while carrying Palestinian flags and large banners that read “Stop the Genocide in Gaza.”
Organized by the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, with affiliation with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party, the march brought together students from various universities, professional education institutions and colleges.
The JI and its student wing have previously organized similar demonstrations to protest the war in Israel that has claimed nearly 38,000 lives, mostly women and children, since it began on October 7, 2023.
“The Pakistani student community and youth will not accept any two-state solution and will only accept an independent and sovereign Palestinian state,” said Hasan Bilal Hashmi, the top leader of the student wing in Karachi, during the rally, as per a press release.
Other participants praised the Palestinian resistance and expressed their continued support.
They highlighted that the JI student wing had supported Palestinians since the conflict began and called for the Muslim world to unite to help them.
Later, the marchers delivered a memorandum to the US Consulate, urging the American administration to cease its support for Israel.
This memorandum was signed by a number of students, including many who participated in the demonstration.
Thousands of students march in Karachi to protest Gaza war, demand independent Palestinian state
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Thousands of students march in Karachi to protest Gaza war, demand independent Palestinian state
- The rally, which was organized by the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, marched toward the US Consulate with Palestinian flags
- The participants said they did not believe in two-state solution and would only accept independent and sovereign Palestine
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
