ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui Thursday asked the government to form a judicial commission to investigate the census controversy or else the party has the option to quit the coalition.
Speaking at a presser along with Minister for Information Technology Aminul Haq, he lambasted the federal government for accepting the controversial results of sixth Population and Housing Census 2017, without paying any heed to its reservations.
“We’re standing with the government, but we also have the option to part ways because we cannot protest against the government, while staying in a coalition with it,” he warned.
If they [the government] cannot count us correctly, how they would ensure our rights to us, he said, adding, it looks like we are left with no option but to take to the streets.
“In the census, the population of Sindh's major cities was shown to be 25 percent less than the actual count…our doubts with regards to 2017 census, have proved true," he added. He said that his party had also approached the court to register its concerns even before the census had begun, adding it was absolutely unacceptable that the people of Sindh were pushed against the wall.
Siddiqui's comments came after the federal cabinet on Wednesday authorised the submission of the 6th Population and Housing Census 2017 report for the final approval of the Council of Common Interest (CCI).
The cabinet also decided to bypass an agreement with the parliamentary leaders of the Senate to correct the highly controversial census 2017 results, through a recount of the population in five percent randomly selected population blocks.
"We’d formed a coalition with the government on the basis of the census," Siddiqui said, adding, despite the MQM's reservations against the results of the census, the federal government went ahead and approved it. He also said that Prime Minister Imran Khan did not fulfill any of his promises with the MQM.
“Why are we even part of the government, to begin with? Will people have to demand all their rights by taking to the streets?" he questioned.
He said that the people of Sindh's urban centres were upset after the government's decision to accept the inaccurate census results, adding that he feared the move might push people to disassociate themselves from the politics of this country.
“It seems as if we’re left with no other option but to take to the streets. In Karachi, people younger than the age of 18 were not even counted,” he said.
He added that the government did not accept any of the demands put forward by the MQM despite making promises.
Siddiqui said that the option to cooperate with the government had ended after the approval of the controversial census, adding that the census was a matter of life and death to the people of Sindh's urban centre.
Hinting at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Siddiqui also clarified that his party was not going to become part of any alliances. "The MQM stands with the people of Sindh and other Pakistanis as well," he concluded.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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