Sindh nationalists observe strike against alleged irregularities in census

PML-N and Sunni Tehreek pledge to support the strike call.

KARACHI: Sindh nationalist parties observed a strike across the province on Saturday against alleged irregularities in the collection for data for upcoming census 2011.

Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) pledged to support the strike call, as PML-N leader Zulfiqar Khosa announced the support after a meeting with chief of Sindh Bachao Tehreek on Friday.

Khosa said that the party workers would play a positive role against the alleged fraud.

The nationalist leaders also met Sunni Tehreek leader Shakeel Qadri to discuss their reservations regarding the house-count process.

After the meeting, the Sunni Tehreek leader demanded the government conduct population and house census under the supervision of army.

Earlier in a press conference, the nationalist leaders demanded that the federal government officially annul the ongoing census or they would boycott the upcoming population census.

They said that the house count must be started anew and that teachers of the education department should do it in order to ensure transparency.

They also demanded that there should be separate registration of illegal immigrants and those who migrated to the province for financial reasons.

With growing complaints of irregularities in the census, the census chief announced on Friday that anyone using pencils, registers, photocopies and any other paper not authorised by the government during the census can face up to six months in jail and a fine of Rs20,000.