• Series of street protests for fair census, delimitation in the offing, says Siddiqui
• Leaders vow to move apex court again

HYDERABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has vowed to move Supreme Court again over disputed delimitations in Karachi and Hyderabad.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) recently rejected Sindh government’s Jan 12, 2023 notification whereby the Sindh government had withdrawn/cancelled its Dec 31, 2021 notification on new structure of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC).

Senior party leaders told the media on Sunday that a new and stronger MQM would launch a decisive struggle on roads against delimitations. They urged the powers that be to take notice of injustice as, they remarked, the Sindh government’s initiative of delimitations would not go down well.

MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui along with Anis Kaimkhani, Zafar Kamali, Zafar Siddiqui, Abdul Wasim and others was speaking at a news conference at the party’s local office at Bhai Khan ki Chari.

Dr Siddiqui said population of urban centres of Sindh was undercounted in every census and this was proved in 1972. He said this conspiracy had been going on for the last 50 years, adding that wrongs of census had never been undone.

He said even the previous census was held after a delay of seven years as attempt was made to change demography of Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah and Sukkur. He said that on the basis of such census, voters lists were prepared and delimitations done. He said that urban centres must have 25pc representation originally.

He said MQM-P raised questions over delimitations in Karachi and Hyderabad at every forum. He vowed to raise the issue on roads and streets with masses’ support.

A programme to enter in ‘decisive phase of the struggle’ would be shared with the media, he said, adding that rigging now stood proved.

Kamal questions ECP’s authority

Syed Mustafa Kamal said that in terms of law, the ECP had no right to say ‘no’ to the Jan 12 notification. “We will move SC again as Muttahida has approached Sindh government under SC’s order,” he said. His point was endorsed by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

Kamal said gerrymandering was done only to deprive MQM-P of its right to perform civic bodies’ functions.

He said given its numerical strength in assemblies, MQM-P could not form its government at the Centre or in Sindh. “You have that much hate that you are even depriving us of our right to clean roads and streets,” he said while accusing the PPP and its government in Sindh of resorting to gerrymandering.

Nowhere in Pakistan were voices of undercounting of population heard and population was under-counted in Karachi and Hyderabad alone. He pointed out that the areas on the outskirts of Hyderabad were included in the city’s limits to change its municipal structure.

This delimitations issue would not go down well for anyone, he said, and warned: “We will not sit idle. We know how to get our rights peacefully, constitutionally and democratically”.

Our case is very strong, says Wasim

Wasim Akhtar said that MQM-P’s case was very strong, arguing that the ECP admitted irregularities in delimitations and this was enough to declare them null and void. It was PPP’s wishful thinking if it considered this as its achievement. MQM had approached government in line with SC’s directive and government wrote to ECP. “Why was this haste [by ECP] to hold polls when LGs had already completed their term in Aug 2020 and elections were not held on time?” he asked.

Siddiqui warned government to restore the old status of HMC before it was too late.

Farooq Sattar chides ECP for delaying delimitations

Dr Farooq Sattar noted that Islamabad witnessed new delimitations, and pointed out that the term of LGs in Sindh had ended in 2020 and no delimitations were carried out by ECP; otherwise elections should have been held in Dec 2020. “Why did the ECP delay delimitations? ECP should look into its own flaws; why delimitations were done in Nov 2021 thus delaying polls for over one year”, he said.

Published in Dawn, January 23th, 2023