Karachi: Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi, has written a letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, regarding the severe inaccuracies in the population census. In the letter, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman mentioned Karachi’s concerns and apprehensions about the population count, stating that Karachi is the country’s largest city in terms of population.
Hafiz Naeem u Rehman said that the city’s population was shown as half in the 2017 census, indicating a figure of approximately 16 million. In contrast, in the census conducted 19 years later in 2017, Lahore showed a growth rate of 113%, Islamabad 90%, and Peshawar 180%, while Karachi was only shown to have a growth rate of 63%.
The Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi remarked that this issue cannot be overlooked. The evidence of incorrect figures and statistics can also be found in the fact that several census blocks in Karachi showed zero population or negligible figures. Similarly, in the 2018 electoral lists, many census blocks had an equal number of voters and population, which is not possible in any way.
He further expressed that despite this injustice and rigging, the current government chose to notify the population census instead of rectifying it. The hope was that the 2023 digital population census would address past injustices.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said that the results of the census conducted in February 2023 showed a negative 26% ratio for Karachi’s population on April 1, 2023. At this time, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) itself admitted that accurate housing and population counting could not be done in nearly 38,000 high-rise buildings in Karachi, and it would be rechecked. The final number is being reported as 19.2 million which is not is in clearly incorrect. In this entire situation, besides other factors, the Sindh government also played a very negative role as it does not want to record accurate growth in Karachi’s population due to reasons such as the proportion of seats in national and provincial assemblies, employment, and other resources.
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