HYDERABAD: Reject-ing the digital census, leaders of nationalist parties have threatened to launch a protest movement if the government tries to impose it forcibly.

Criticising the Sindh government for giving its consent to the process, they adopted a joint declaration at a meeting and shared it with the media at a briefing.

The joint meeting was held on the invitation of Riaz Chandio, chief of his own faction of the Jeay Sindh Mahaz-Riaz at his residence here on Friday evening.

The leaders attending the meeting included Hyder Shahani of the Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party, Ameer Thebo of the Sindh United Party, Altaf Khaskheli of the Qaumi Awami Tehreek, Nawaz Zaunr of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Party, Javed Rajpar of the Awami Workers Party and others.

Chandio, who chaired the meeting, told journalists that the digital census was unconstitutional, illegal and anti-Sindh. He said their meeting rejected the census and its modalities while expressing concern over it.

He said the census was to be held in 2027; therefore. it was in conflict with a decision of the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

He criticised the Sindh government’s consent for the census and asked the government to desist from it, failing which nationalists would launch a movement.

According to the CCI decision, he said, the census was to be held in the few areas about which complaints were lodged. He said Rs50 billion were being spent on the digital census which would not be supervised by a third party and no list of it would be displayed.

He claimed that threats to majority of Sindh had increased in the census because the condition of having CNIC had been done away with and those living in Sindh for six months could be counted, which would produce dangerous results.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2023