No more excuses
The census has not been held because it suits the politicians
Policy makers address the issue of over-population on World Population Day.
The Supreme Court (SC) has put its foot down in the matter of the delayed census and we support the Honourable Justices. On Thursday 1st December the SC sitting as a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali said that it regretted that no political parties had joined together to become party to the Suo Moto proceedings; observing drily that this may be because the status quo suited them. It is now 18 years since the last census in 1998 and much has changed in the national demographic since that time. The longer the census is delayed the greater and more important in political terms those changes become. The population overall has increased, it has become more mobile shifting from the countryside to the expanding cities, and the truth is that the government has little or no idea beyond the broadest of brushstrokes where those changes have occurred never mind planning for them into the future.
The SC further observed that there seemed little chance of the matter being resolved unless and until it called the Prime minister (PM) himself to appear before it — an eventuality the PM will be sure to want to avoid. The SC has asked for written assurance that the census would begin by March 15th at the latest but the Attorney General (AG) appearing for the government sought to kick the census into the long grass yet again by saying that the government was not in a position to hold out a commitment that it could not fulfil. This is stuff and nonsense and the AG knows that. The all-purpose excuse for not holding the census is that the troops needed to support it cannot be made available because of the risk posed to national security. The number required is now reduced to 48,000 and India is not about to invade us just because our military is temporarily engaged with a head-count. There is no significant risk to security by a short-term military deployment. The census has not been held because it suits the politicians. Call the PM Honourable Justices, call the PM.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2016.
The SC further observed that there seemed little chance of the matter being resolved unless and until it called the Prime minister (PM) himself to appear before it — an eventuality the PM will be sure to want to avoid. The SC has asked for written assurance that the census would begin by March 15th at the latest but the Attorney General (AG) appearing for the government sought to kick the census into the long grass yet again by saying that the government was not in a position to hold out a commitment that it could not fulfil. This is stuff and nonsense and the AG knows that. The all-purpose excuse for not holding the census is that the troops needed to support it cannot be made available because of the risk posed to national security. The number required is now reduced to 48,000 and India is not about to invade us just because our military is temporarily engaged with a head-count. There is no significant risk to security by a short-term military deployment. The census has not been held because it suits the politicians. Call the PM Honourable Justices, call the PM.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2016.