The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by the MQM calling for a fresh census in Sindh. Dr Farooq Sattar, who is no longer affiliated with the MQM, had raised objections over the 2017 census and claimed that injustice was meted out to the people of Karachi.
The apex court said the census process was now complete and directed him to file a new petition. The former MQM leader expresses disappointed over the decision, claiming that the census was rigged and a sham as the urban areas of Sindh were under-represented. Many parties including the PPP, ANP and Jamaat-e-Islami had raised objections on the census but statisticians claim that a sample size should be redone to prove accuracy rather than the entire census.
The first census in Pakistan was conducted in 1951 and was mandated to be held every ten years but there have been only six nationwide censuses (1961, 1972, 1981, 1998, and 2017). They were frequently delayed and postponed due to political and security issues. The last census was mired in controversy as the population of Karachi, the largest city in the country, was recorded at just 10.49 million even though it was long believed to have surpassed the twenty million mark.
Political parties in Sindh are of the opinion that the population has been undermined as it would lead to the redistribution of resources. This NFC Award would have to be redrawn and Karachi would more seats in parliament while the shares of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s resources will be reduced. It was a long-awaited and costly process to conduct the census which has also been the fallen prey to politicking.
According to a UN study in 2015, Karachi has seen an influx of migrants and the population has surged by sixty percent since the 1998 census. The MQM has moved the court calling for a fresh census claiming bias against Karachi. The MQM does not have the same political clout and many people have migrated to their hometown as the security situation improved. It needs to be seen if the top court will finally resolve the matter and give Karachi its due share.
