Prominent social and political figure Mahfooz un Nabi Khan has called for an immediate judicial or parliamentary review of the 18th Amendment, stating that this constitutional change has rendered the Federation of Pakistan powerless, likening it to “a bird flying without its wings.”
In a statement on Sunday, Mahfooz un Nabi Khan asserted that provincial authorities have seized all resources, which he described as contrary to the original spirit of the amendment.
He criticized the amendment’s approval process, claiming that its preparation was “deliberately kept secret.” He argued that the absence of public debate on the amendment’s features and potential consequences undermined the democratic principle of popular sovereignty.
The political leader alleged that to achieve consensus from other parties, concessions were made, including allowing a third term for the prime ministership and assigning a linguistic and ethnic identity to a province’s name.
Mr. Khan argued that this has created a justification for establishing new provinces on cultural and linguistic grounds. He said, “If Karachi can be divided into seven districts and Thatta into two in the name of better governance, then provinces can also be created in Sindh for the sake of administrative improvement.”
Additionally, addressing the recent Gul Plaza tragedy, Mr. Khan welcomed the resolution passed by the joint session of the national parliament but cautioned against labeling the incident an “accident” before a credible, high-level inquiry is completed.
He demanded an immediate investigation into this “national tragedy” headed by a Supreme Court judge. Mr. Khan believes such a probe could identify high-ranking government members guilty of negligence and corruption, whom he thinks cannot be properly investigated at the administrative level.
Furthermore, he suggested that had the army been deployed at the scene, the losses could have been limited. He concluded, “The Pakistan Army is fully capable of dealing with disasters.”