MQM-Pakistan calls off Sept 16 protest against population census findings

Party's chief Farooq Sattar to reveal reasons of the cancellation in a news conference tomorrow

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has called off its protest against the findings of the 6th population census conducted last month across the country, Express News reported.

The party's chief Farooq Sattar had voiced concerns over the results, saying it had not included 10 million people of the metropolis.

The development came following a meeting of the party's Rabita [coordination] Committee. According to the committee's spokesperson, Sattar will reveal reasons of the cancellation in a news conference on Friday (tomorrow).

The demonstration was scheduled for September 16 and was planned to be staged at Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum.



On August 29, Sattar said any injustice with Karachi was tantamount to meting out injustice to the entire country. The census results, he added, were not only alarming for MQM-P but for every person living in Sindh.

He went on to say that the province's population had deliberately been shown less than what it actually is.

Reiterating that Mohajirs were being pushed against the wall, Sattar said his party would approach the Supreme Court against the “misrepresented” census results.

He quoted the World Bank and the World Health Organisation’s estimates which place Karachi’s population at around 23 million against the figure of 14.9 million in the new census.