JI calls for counting everyone living in Karachi

The Karachi chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has set up a protest camp outside the city office of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) against what it alleges “massive mismanagement and flaws” in the census process.

Karachi JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman visited the camp and held a media talk on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, he said that each and everyone living in Karachi should be counted as Karachiite irrespective of the permanent address mentioned in the computerised identity card.

He said that millions of people belonging to Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi, Kashmiri and other ethnicities had been living in the mega city since ages and they should be counted in Karachi and not in other areas.

Rehman highlighted that a large number of Afghan people living in Karachi had been counted in Peshawar. Under which law or logic they have been counted in Peshawar when they are living, studying, and earning their livelihood in Karachi, he asked.

He said that the JI had taken onboard the federal planning minister, Ahsan Iqbal, asked him to visit Karachi and resolve issues pertaining to underreported statistics during the enumeration process.

He added that the JI had also taken the census commissioner in Sindh onboard over the issue and demanded from him to ensure transparency in the entire process. He once again demanded of the authorities to extend the date of the census for at least another month.

He asked the government to immediately constitute a committee, comprising all stakeholders of Karachi, to oversee the census process and ensure transparency. The JI leader said that the party would utilise all available legal, constitutional and democratic options against the injustice being faced by Karachiites.

He further said that a door-to-door mass contact campaign would be launched after Eidul Fitr and a big march would be taken out against the injustice on April 30 on Sharea Faisal.

The JI had already launched a web portal to record issues pertaining to the census, he said and requested the Karachiites to register their response on the portal. He also urged political workers belonging to any party to encourage people to approach the portal. The JI leader reiterated his demand to provide the masses with access to the data in order to bring transparency to the census.