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ISLAMABAD, Jan 20 (APP):Lawmakers from across the political spectrum on Tuesday set aside partisan differences in the National Assembly to condemn the deadly fire at Karachi’s Gul Plaza and called for sweeping reforms in building safety, emergency response and urban governance, as the House debated an adjournment motion on the tragedy.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Qadir Patel congratulated newly elected Leader of the Opposition Mahmood Khan Achakzai and welcomed his call for moving forward together, saying his party had been advocating such cooperation for years.
Recalling past disasters — including the Timber Market and Baldia factory fires — Patel said such tragedies were not isolated and urged that all incidents be addressed with the same seriousness.
He expressed solidarity with the affected families, said the government had ensured compensation in previous cases, and cautioned against “selective accountability”.
Rejecting personal allegations, he said he had nothing to hide and stressed that Karachi’s immense contribution to the country required sustained attention, effective governance and justice.
PTI MNA Asad Qaiser said Karachi’s roads, water supply and emergency response systems needed urgent attention, and urged both his party leadership and the MQM to ensure the city received its due share of water and infrastructure support.
He voiced concern over the daily loss of young lives due to open holes and the absence of alarms and preventive measures in commercial complexes, adding that the Gul Plaza fire was not just a single-building tragedy but a blow to the city’s business community and public safety framework.
JUI-P MNA Misbah Uddin also congratulated Achakzai and highlighted issues faced by overseas Pakistanis, urging lawmakers to prioritise challenges concerning FATA and broader national concerns.
He expressed deep sorrow over the Gul Plaza incident and the loss it had caused.
PPP MNA Asad Alam Niazi termed the incident a matter of national grief, saying such tragedies should never occur.
He told the House he had reached the site at 10:17am and witnessed the aftermath, noting the initial absence of people.
Emphasising collective responsibility, he said the issue was too serious to be treated lightly or politically.
MQM-P MNA Syed Waseem Hussain said the tragedy exposed the state’s failure to protect citizens’ fundamental rights.
Referring to huqooq-ul-ibad, he said neglecting the protection of lives and livelihoods could not be excused.
He regretted that political point-scoring had at times overshadowed the incident and questioned whether the response would have been as slow had the fire occurred at a high-profile state building.
The victims, he said, were ordinary tax-paying citizens who kept the economy running, yet the emergency response was delayed and inadequate.
PTI MNA Ali Muhammad Khan urged the House not to turn the tragedy into political sparring and offered prayers for the victims. Accepting collective responsibility, he called for accountability for any legislative or administrative shortcomings and cited the 1911 New York factory fire, after which comprehensive labour and fire safety laws were enacted.
He lamented that similar tragedies in Pakistan including in Murree and during floods had not led to lasting policy frameworks.
Proposing that the Gul Plaza incident be referred to a relevant standing committee, he called for binding legislation on building codes, fire safety regulations, mandatory drills and enforcement mechanisms, stressing that speeches alone would not prevent future disasters.
PPP’s Syeda Shehla Raza said Sindh was the only province where the local government had completed its tenure and where new and amended laws on local governance had been introduced.
She noted that nine towns in Karachi were currently led by Jamaat-e-Islami, while other provinces and Islamabad had yet to hold local government elections.
Turning to the incident, she said the fire had broken out two days earlier at 10:15pm and paid tribute to firefighters, especially Furqan Abbas, who lost his life while rescuing others.
She recalled that his father had also died in the line of duty, calling it a legacy of sacrifice.
She added that a city of around 30 million people had only 28 fire stations and 36 operational fire tenders.
MQM-P’s Syed Aminul Haq told the House that in 2020, after negotiations with the federal government, his party had secured 52 fire tenders, two snorkels and two bowsers for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, but there had been no further investment since.
He and other speakers demanded structural reforms, including empowering the mayor of Karachi, placing the Building Control Authority and Civil Defence under the mayor’s jurisdiction, and constituting a judicial commission to probe what they termed “criminal negligence” surrounding the Gul Plaza fire and to recommend systemic improvements.
Across party lines, lawmakers stressed that coordinated action by federal and provincial governments was essential to ensure that such tragedies were not repeated, and that public safety must be strengthened through enforceable laws and effective urban governance rather than temporary expressions of grief.