ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) today (Friday) has decided to take a stand against the Centre while reiterating its demands regarding the 2017 census.
MQM-P leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, in this regard, said that the party has decided to reach out to the people of Karachi and other urban areas of Sindh to seek their opinion regarding a future course of action.
“MQM voters reside in several areas of Karachi, but their number was shown to be zero in the controversial 2017 census,” he said, adding, “The government must answer why they are not doing anything to address our concerns.”
Khalid Maqbool further said that the MQM wants to show to the government that Sindh’s urban areas were the biggest victim of the 18th Amendment. “The 18th Amendment was a farce,” he added.
“The last census was conducted after a gap of eight years, I guess the next one will also take place with a gap of eight years,” Siddiqui remarked.
Earlier on Thursday, Siddiqui had claimed that the population of Sindh’s major cities was shown to be 25% less than the actual count in the 2017 census. “Our doubts related to the inaccuracy of the 2017 census have proven to be true now,” he had said.
Siddiqui’s comments came after the federal cabinet on Wednesday authorised the submission of the Sixth Population and Housing Census 2017 report for final approval before the Council of Common Interests.
The cabinet also decided to bypass an agreement with parliamentary leaders of the Senate to correct controversial results through a recount of the population in 5% randomly selected population blocks.
