The Daily DAWN, Friday July 17, 1998

MQM to have access to census record

By Nasir Malick


LONDON, July 16: The government has agreed to remove the reservations of the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM) regarding the figures of the national population census, MQM Chief Altaf Hussain
said on Thursday.

Talking to reporters in mid of his meeting with Provincial Coordi-nation Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali
at MQM International Headquar-ters in London, Mr Hussain said he had expressed his party's
reservations over the figures of the national census and the government had agreed to allow a
three-member MQM committee access to official record, wherever necessary, to remove its
misgivings about the figures.

He said his party was of the opinion that the census figures had been manipulated. "I have told him
that nobody is going to accept these figures," the MQM Chief said, pointing towards the minister, who
sat next to Mr Hussain during the talks with the reporters. Chaudhry Nisar interrupted and said the
government was willing to remove MQM reservations in whichever way it wanted to.

He said the government had asked the MQM to form a committee which would be given access to
official record which they wanted to see or meet any government official for seeking any clarifications.

Mr Hussain welcomed the offer and said he would nominate a three-member committee soon for the
purpose. However, he insisted that there had been great manipulation in the figures.

He said that while Karachi,the largest industrial city of Pakistan, had only 3.45 per cent growth rate,
Larkana had been shown to have a growth rate of 4.69 per cent. "Can anyone believe that Larkana
has such a (high) growth rate?" he asked.

Mr Hussain said Rawalpindi had been shown as having a growth rate of 3.41 per cent and
Bahawalpur 4.85 per cent.

The MQM chief was of the opinion that Karachi has a minimum annual growth rate of 6.0 per cent.

"Who will believe the census figure that Karachi has a population of only 9.2 million?" He said that
according to independent figures, the present population of Karachi is around 13 to 14 million.

However, Chaudhry Nisar Ali explained to him that since Larkana, Bahawalpur were small towns,
even a small increase in the population is reflected high in percentage. He said that 3.5 per cent
growth rate for a big city like Karachi was one of the highest in the world.