Visiting Swabi: Sherpao urges Centre to focus on holding census

Says if no action taken by mid-April, APC will be called

SWABI: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao urged the Centre to start work on the population census. Or else, he said, he would call a meeting of all political parties so they could pressure the federal government collectively.

Sherpao was addressing the participants of a meeting held in Swabi on Monday.

Census

“The government should immediately conduct a population census; this is not just a demand of the people in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but also people from other provinces.” Sherpao added without the exact size of the population, government would not be able to determine its resources and where they were needed the most.

He added if government does not take an interest in starting the population census, QWP would call an all-parties conference in the second week of April and would thereafter jointly raise a voice for this demand.

CPEC

He also asked politicians to join hands for the region’s due rights in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and raise a voice for Pukhtuns who are impacted by terrorism and other problems.

The QWP chief said his party was in favour of getting rid of the Frontier Crimes Regulation and the merger of the tribal areas with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Several important personalities, including former ISI Chief Major (retd) Muhammad Amir, QWP Central Vice Chairperson Abdul Malik Khan and MPA Bakht Baidar Khan, participated.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2016.