KARACHI: Insisting that Karachi’s population is over 30 million, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Monday vowed that any number less than that in the final results of the recently concluded census would be rejected.

The party also demanded an independent commission to look into the authenticity of the claims that the population of rural parts of Sindh had grown 60 per cent over the years while during the same period, it increased only by 12pc in urban areas of the province.

It also warned of launching a protest drive if the party’s consistent and peaceful demand for true population count of Karachi and other Sindh urban areas was not heard and taken serious by the authorities.

Speaking at a press conference at a park adjacent to the party’s temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad, MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui sounded hopeful of a positive response from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, which is set to complete its term in the next few days, on its demand related to the population census in urban Sindh as well as fresh delimitation.

“We have handed over all documents and evidence to the authorities concerned [regarding flaws in the recently concluded census],” said Dr Siddiqui. “Both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal have assured us that our concerns would be addressed.”

Warns of protest if Karachi population count not corrected

He said that his party had serious reservations over the census process. “We hope that after the assurances from the top, the census results will be fixed in the phase of verification, rectification and post-enumeration audit,” he added.

He warned that no segment of society would accept that population of Karachi was mere 19 million in the recently concluded census. If the authorities insisted on such numbers, the party would be forced to take to the streets, he said.

He also questioned the methodology adopted in the census and demanded its verification from independent experts.

“Official claims show that the increase in rural population of Sindh remains much higher than the urban areas over the years. Is it possible or does it even sound sensible? We want an independent commission to look into these numbers,” Dr Siddiqui demanded.

Senior party leader Dr Farooq Sattar further elaborated the issue through “documentry evidence.”

He referred to the census numbers which said that the population of rural areas of Sindh grew 60pc over the years while during the same period it jumped only by 12pc in urban areas of the province.

“Urbanisation is a global phenomenon, even in the developed countries...and it is growing very fast and become a serious challenge even for strong economies,” he said. “But this census in Pakistan tells us that in our country, things are moving completely the other way. The number of population in our rural area is growing extraordinarily and our cities are hardly seen as preferred places to live and earn by the people. Doesn’t it sound ridiculous?” he questioned.

He said that more than five million Karachiites were added into the fresh census only through the efforts of the MQM-P; otherwise the total number of Karachi population would not have crossed even 15 million mark.

“We spent our energy, time and resources to get more than five million Karachiites counted which were left out in the initial phase of the [digital] census. Even after this addition, the final number stands at little more than 19 million which we don’t accept,” he added.

Published in Dawn, Aug 1st, 2023