KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali shah expressing his reservations on the census results in the CCI meeting has said that now he will fight the case taking all the political parties onboard.
This he said while talking to media at the residence of Leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Khawaja Izharul Hassan whom he visited this afternoon to express his solidarity with him against the attack by terrorists on his life just after Eid prayer.
The chief minister said that the provisional census results were presented in the CCI meeting held before Eid. “I had expressed my reservation when I saw the results in which population of Lahore was shown increased from five million to 11 million while the population of Karachi was shown increased from 10 million to 14 million,” he said and added it was quite surprising for him.
Murad Ali Shah said that he had written a letter to Federal Minister Ishaq Dar when the census process was being started and had urged him to direct the census teams to give a copy head counts to the concerned family then and there. “It was necessary and important to make the process transparent and easier for verification but federal government did not listen”, he said.
He added that in the census blocks were made over a group 250 to 300 house. Had they [census teams] given them copy of their head counts to the concerned families it would have become quite easier to counter check the population in a block through the copies available with them. “We have planned to consult all the political parties on this matter [census results] to evolve a joint strategy with the consensus to fight out case of Sindh,” he said and added that the PPP had reservations at the early stage that’s why the party had filed suit in the court.
Published in Daily Times, September 5th 2017.
