MPC warns against accepting census results if Sindh's concerns not addressed.

KARACHI -- A multi-party conference, organised by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party here on Friday, jointly announced that the results of the seventh national population and housing census would not accepted if the 'concerns' of Sindh were not addressed.

The moot, which was attended by many political, religious and nationalist parties, also demanded that the upcoming general elections be held on the basis of the outcome of the digital census in all four provinces.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) - an umbrella of different political parties in Sindh - boycotted the conference, while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan did not attend the event due to its foundation day event scheduled to be held on Saturday (today).

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-Fazl), Awami National Party (ANP), Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party (STP), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP), AWP, AJP and others attended the PPP event.

The electronic media was not allowed to cover the event live except the speeches of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and PPP's Sindh chapter president Senator Nisar Khuhro.

Speaking at the conference, the CM briefing the participants about flaws in the census and said that an estimated 20 per cent population of Sindh was deprived of computerised national identity cards due to which the government could not demand that the census be held on the basis of CNICs.

He demanded that that Sindh government be given access to the census data so that the province should know the number of 'illegal foreigners' living in Sindh.

He said that except extending time of the census, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had termed all other demands of Sindh as 'legitimate' and directed all relevant authorities to include the province's suggestions in it.

'We will see as to whether the PM's directions are implemented,' he said, adding that Sindh had demanded that 'illegal foreigners' also be counted to ascertain their number in the province. 'We want census but it should be carried out in a transparent manner,' he said.

Senator Khuhro, the host of the event, said there were flaws in the tablets provided to enumerators for digital census.

STP chief Dr Qadir Magsi said that the census tended to take place after a gap of 10 years but this digital census was being done due to the nexus of the MQM-P and PTI.

'The PTI wanted to give legal status to illegal Afghans in Karachi while...