Our headcount has been halved, soon our resources will be too: Sattar

KARACHI (Monitoring Desk): Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan Head Farooq Sattar remarked that in the provisional results of census the population of Karachi has been halved.

“Soon our water and other basic facilities will also be halved,” he said while addressing party rally against provisional census results at Liaquatabad flyover on Sunday. Almost half of Karachi’s population has not been counted in the census process, he claimed. “This is not headcount, rather omitting of headcount.”

As a result of the wrong results, our representation has been halved, he added. “We reject these rigged census.” Even the persons with disabilities have not been counted in the census. “We demand that the census process should be conducted again.”

MQM is a force to reckon with, he claimed. “We want to be treated justly.” If justice is not dispensed then we will expand our protest to every street and lane, he said. “We demand that MQM should be given political freedom.”

He also claimed that the current MQM-Pakistan will be turned into the MQM of 1986. “MQM is the only party which understands the problems of the people. MQM is the only party which can solve their problems.”

Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan dismissed the idea that there is rift between members of MQM-Pakistan. “There are no groups in the party,” he remarked while addressing rally. Our enemies are obsessed with seeing how many people left our party, however, they should “come and see who people actually support,” he said.

“Wickets are lost in a match with 11 players. Our team comprises more than 11 people, nation supports us,” Izhar-ul-Hassan said, adding people who are trying to destabilise the party should know that their efforts will bear no fruits. If you take to take wickets then focus on Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, he claimed.

On the other hand, party leader Faisal Sabzwari spoke against the provisional results of the census. “The population of Karachi has been miscounted,” he remarked. “Karachi is being harmed and everyone is sleeping.”

The enemies of MQM have become the enemies of Karachi, he remarked. “PPP is least bothered about Karachi. They consider Karachi a place to be plundered.”

Distributing invitations

MQM-Pakistan chief Farooq Sattar went to Jama Cloth Market to distribute the invitations for the rally, where he said 500 union committees would be formed once the census results are corrected.

The opposition leader in Sindh Assembly, Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan, along with Kanwar Naveed, invited people from different areas of the central district to the rally. The party leaders, including Rauf Siddiqui and Kamran Tessori, also visited the rally site to examine preparations.

During his visit Naveed spoke to the media, saying it was unfair to undercount the population of Karachi in the latest census. The announcement for the protest was made by MQM-P chief, according to whom the census was rigged to reduce employment opportunities for the people of Sindh.

He had said that Karachi’s population in actual is around 30 million, whereas according to the census it is 10.6 million. Pakistan’s total population has been recorded at 207.7 million, according to the provisional summary results of the sixth population and housing census. The sixth Housing and Population Census began after a period of 19 years on March 15.