KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said PTI, Jamaat Islami, and even MQM had demonstrated mysterious silence when the population of Karachi and the entire province was calculated at 16 million and 47 million respectively in the last census of 2017 and it was only him who had rejected the census in the CCI but surprisingly now everyone is trying to be champion of the cause.
This he said while talking to the media at St. Joseph’s Convent School where he attended the commemorating Sesquicentennial year (1862 – 2022-23).
To a question, the chief minister said that he was quite surprised that the PTI has announced to stage a protest demonstration against the ongoing census. “They [PTI] were in the government when the population of Karachi was counted at 16 million and of the entire province at 47 million, but they did not raise their voice and it was me who had rejected the census of 2017 in the CCI meeting,” he said and added the MQM had also was accepted the census on the condition that it would be conducted again.
Mr Shah said that as far as Jamaat Islami was concerned they had also demonstrated silence, except for a few statements but now everyone was claiming to be champion of the cause purely for political reasons. “I know, people of the province particularly of Karachi know very well that it was the PPP government in Sindh that had fought for their rights and still contesting the case,” he said.
The CM said that when the census 2023 was started he had questioned its methodology and expressed his reservations. “The federal government addressed some of the reservations but still we are not satisfied because various reservations are yet to be addressed,” he said.
Murad Shah said that in the 2023 census, members per household in Sindh have been shown less than in the other provinces for which he wanted to give an award to the Bureau of Statistics, he said tauntingly. He added that the census results would be presented in the provincial cabinet, and he was sure that it would not accept the results and reject them.
To another question regarding elections in Punjab, the chief minister said that a large number of national assembly seats in the KPK have fallen vacant for a long, but nobody bothered to move for holding the election on them in 90 days, the thrust and focus have been made only in the provincial assembly election in Punjab.
Murad Shah said that the country was faced with multiple crises, and it should not be pushed further into other crises. He added that the anti-polio drive was in progress all over the country where security forces were providing security to the polio team apart from providing security to the census teams. “In such a state of affairs how the security agencies could spare their personnel for election duty,” he said.
The CM said that the general election would be held on time. “The impact of election in Punjab is more than 50 percent of the total electorate in the country and the constitution calls for holding the election under the supervision of a caretaker government and at present a political government is in power in the center,” he said.
Talking about the Constitution, Mr. Shah said that instead of focusing on the interpretation of a particular clause of the Constitution, all the relevant clauses should be interpreted to understand the spirit of the Constitution.
To a question, Murad Ali Shah said that the budget for the next financial year, 2023-23 would be presented in time – June 2023.
Talking about the rain forecast, the CM said that the forecast for heavy rains has been
made for the end of April and the beginning of May. “We are taking necessary measures to control the situation but controlling downpour is only in the control of Almighty Allah,” he said. He added that he has directed PDMA and local bodies to get precautionary measures.
