Demands army’s supervisory role; ID cards of illegal immigrants be cancelled
KARACHI: The All Parties Conference (APC) on the census held at the CM House Sindh on Sunday under the auspices of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) called for transferring the responsibility of holding the census to the provincial governments, the exercise should be carried out under the supervision of the Pakistan Army and the identity cards of illegal immigrants should be revoked.
While presiding over the APC, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that the constitution of the Population Census Commission was one sided, and the Sindh government was not taken into confidence over the matter.
The APC was attended by representatives from more than 25 parties. Khawaja Izharul Hasan of the MQM said that the presence of illegal immigrants in Sindh was a big problem. He said that the Sindh government should evolve a system to tackle the issue of illegal immigrants.
He said that the resolution passed by the Sindh Assembly on the census should be sent to the federal government. He demanded quashing of the rural and urban system in Sindh. PML-N Senator Nehal Hashmi said that there should be a member from Sindh in the commission with consultation from the Sindh government.
Senator Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah of the PML-F said that since the job quota was also related to the population census, it should be held in all the provinces. A Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader said that the census should be held under the supervision of the Army.
Chief of the Awami Tehreek Ayaz Latif Palejo warned if the population of Sindh was reduced to six to seven crores, his party would not accept this census. Agencies add: Sindh PPP Secretary Information Waqar Mehdi said that the participants of the moot were of the view that there should be at least one month for the head count and 10 days for the house count.
It also called for equal representation of all the provinces in the Governing Council of the Federal Statistics Division and the exercise be conducted by regular government employees. Among the 20 high officials of the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) every province be given equal representation.
The census exercise should be conducted through the civilian employees of provincial governments and the law enforcement agencies should be deployed for security and surveillance. The Council of Common Interests (CCI) should determine a transparent and credible policy and procedure in consultation with the federal and provincial governments and arrangements should be made for sending back the illegal immigrants. There should be strict monitoring of the census from beginning to the end.
The APC was attended by the representatives of the PPP, MQM, PML-F, PML-N, JUI-F, QAT, Sindh Tarraqqi Pasand Party, PTI, JI, PML-Q, JUP, MWM, STP, Awami Tehreek, JASQM, Shia Ulema Council, PDP, JUP-Noorani, Qayyumi Awami Jamhoori Party, Nizam Mustafa Party, Muttahida Ulema Forum as well as representatives of civil society.