Khawaja Asif says it is ‘humanly impossible’ to manage Karachi with current administrative structure
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif speaking at the National Assembly session on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. PHOTO: Facebook/ National Assembly of Pakistan
ISLAMABAD:
The fire in Karachi’s Gul Square dominated debate in the National Assembly on Tuesday, with MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar describing the fire as a “national tragedy” and accusing the Sindh government and city authorities of negligence and late response.
He said Karachi residents had the right to question both the provincial and federal governments about where the city stood on their list of priorities.
The fire that broke out Saturday night at Gul Plaza has killed at least 28 people, while dozens are still missing.
Tempers flared in the House as MQM-P members tore agenda papers and demanded that routine business be suspended to focus solely on the Karachi tragedy. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar later moved a motion to adjourn the rest of the agenda, which was approved by Vice President Ghulam Mustafa Shah.
Sattar said decades of neglect had left Karachi critically short of firefighting resources, arguing that the city was undercounted, underrepresented and underfunded. Paying tribute to firefighter Furqan Ali, who died while fighting the blaze, he said accountability was inevitable and those responsible must seek forgiveness from the public. He renewed his calls for stronger local governments, saying a city the size of Karachi cannot be governed by a prime minister alone.
PPP leader Shehla Raza rejected the MQM-P’s criticism, saying there was no need for ministers to immediately visit the incident sites and the priority should be effective emergency management. He described the official response to the fire, acknowledging delays caused by traffic congestion, and insisted that Sindh had a functioning local government system.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif later echoed calls for empowered local governments, saying it was “humanly impossible” to manage Karachi under the current administrative structure.
Read: Gul Plaza fire death toll rises to 28 as DNA testing begins to identify victims
“I don’t blame the individuals, I blame the system,” he said, arguing that the concentration of authority in provincial capitals had weakened governability.
He said the spirit of the 18th Amendment had not yet been realized as power had not been significantly transferred to the grassroots level. True public empowerment, he asserted, required a strong and autonomous local government system.
“If there is no empowered local government, there will be no effective firefighters, no timely emergency response, and no accountability at the neighborhood level,” he said.
Terming the Gul Plaza fire as a wake-up call, Asif urged parliament to seriously reflect and seek constitutional reforms to strengthen local governments.
MQM-P legislator Wasim Hussain, responding to PPP’s Abdul Qadir Patel’s remarks, accused his political rivals of past complicity in Karachi’s troubles, including the developments related to Gul Plaza. Patel rejected the allegations and said the Sindh government was committed to stabilizing the city and supporting those affected by the fire.
The debate opened with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf legislator Shehryar Afridi congratulating Mahmood Khan Achakzai on becoming opposition leader, calling it an honor for Balochistan and the country. He questioned coordination between provincial and federal disaster authorities following the Karachi fire, while criticizing the use of the term “internally displaced persons” for people affected by military operations in the merged districts, saying forced displacement undermined human dignity.
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Afridi alleged that the tribal areas had been used to attract funds without provision of basic services and called for wider consultations in the jirga so that all stakeholders would have confidence.
The House also saw heated exchanges over security operations in Khyber and Waziristan, with PTI and JUI-F lawmakers protesting against displacement during harsh winter conditions. PTI’s Iqbal Afridi warned that failure to provide aid could spark protests, while former president Asad Qaiser accused the federal government of withholding funds owed to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa under the NFC Award.
Several bills, including a proposed constitutional amendment and institutional legislation, were referred to standing committees before the session was adjourned until 11 a.m. Wednesday.
