KARACHI: Sindh will evolve a common stance on the upcoming census to ensure that the gigantic exercise does not convert its permanent residents into a minority, said provincial adviser to the chief minister on information on Saturday.

“Political, religious and nationalist parties will meet at Chief Minister House on Sunday [today] to discuss the census issue threadbare and evolve a consensus vision to counter the attempts aimed at harming the federation,” said Maula Bux Chandio while talking to reporters at a hotel.

Mr Chandio said census was a mandatory provision of the Constitution, which was needed to be dealt with seriousness, something that was not being shown by Islamabad. “The federal government should show seriousness in deciding on critical things such as census. Unfortunately, the ruling parliamentary party is afraid of parliament,” he said.

He said Islamabad wanted to control everything and push the things through force, especially the smaller provinces whose mandate was continuously being denied by the federal government.

He said people of Balochistan had already demanded repatriation of [Afghan] refugees and Sindh had similar demands. “I call upon all the permanent residents of Sindh to take part in census religiously, because their fears about becoming a minority in their own province is on the rise,” he added.

“And when I say the permanent residents of Sindh, the term includes everyone who has permanent stakes in Sindh and not just those Sindhis who speak Sindhi,” said Mr Chandio.

He said the federal government with its intent to postpone census altogether or change its figures had created doubts in the minds of the people of smaller provinces. “Such acts will aggravate the situation, harm trust and will be tantamount to playing with our future,” he said.

Mr Chandio said all the parties, including nationalist and religious parties, had been invited to take part in the ‘all-parties’ conference.

He also referred to the demands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in which the former wanted to be informed before any action was taken against politicians or bureaucrats while the latter showed its anger against the Federal Investigation Agency and the National Accountability Bureau. He added that similar demands had been made by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah in the past but they had been mocked upon and laughed away. “Who will restore the credibility of NAB now?”

Mr Chandio said nationalist party leaders including Syed Jalal Mahmood Shah, Dr Qadir Magsi and Ayaz Latif Palijo had accepted the Sindh government’s invitation and were expected to take part in the conference.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2016