'India landed on the moon, while our children die in gutter': Pakistani MP's rant goes viral

Pakistani lawmaker Syed Mustafa Kamal, while speaking at the country's Parliament, compared the achievements of India with Karachi's precarious situation, taking New Delhi's successful moon landing mission as one of the examples.

Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan's (MQM-P) leader said thatonthe one hand, India has been successfully landing on the moonandon the otherhandKarachi has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

India Is On The Moon, We're failing Our Kids - Pakistan MP's Statement Goes Viral

While Delhi is going to the Moon, Pakistani kids are falling into gutters and dying, Syed Mustafa Kamal told parliament on Wednesday.

Highlighting issues of no fresh water in Karachi & issues… pic.twitter.com/iNbxl7kUje — RT_India (@RT_India_news) May 16, 2024

"Today, the condition in Karachi is that, while the world is going to the moon, children are dying by falling into the gutter in Karachi. On the same screen, there is news that India landed on the moon, and just after two seconds, the news is that a child died in an open gutter in Karachi," saidKamal,in his address to the Parliament on Wednesday (May 15).

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Pakistani MP speaks about Karachi's struggle forfreshwater

The lawmaker spoke about Karachi facing scarcity of fresh water. Citing a report, he said that around seven million children in Karachi and more than 26 millionchildren in Pakistanare not enrolledin schools.

"Karachi is the revenue engine of Pakistan.The two seaports operational in Pakistan since itsinception,arebothin Karachi.We (Karachi) are the gateway to the entire Pakistan, Central AsiatoAfghanistan...For 15 years, Karachiwas not giveneven a bit of fresh water. Even the water that came, the tanker mafia hoarded it and sold it to the people of Karachi," said MP Kamal.

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"We have a total of 48,000 schools, but a new report saysthat out ofthat11,000are 'ghost schools'.70lakh children in Sindh don't go to schoolanda total of 2,62,00,000 children in the country don't go to school...if wejustfocus on this, theleaders of the countryshouldn't even get proper sleep," the parliamentarian said.

Last yearinAugust, India's Chandrayaan-3 lander became the country's first spacecraftto have safely reachedthe lunar surface. India also emerged as the first nationto land on theSouth Pole of the moon.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has been facing an economic crisis amid increasing debts and high inflation.

The country has sought from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a new loan programme under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Currently,a team of the IMF is in Pakistan to discuss the issue.

(With inputs from agencies)