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Karachi's political stakeholders object as census estimates city's population may decrease

An official, center, from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics uses a digital device to collect information from a resident during door-to-door the first ever digital national census in Karachi on March 1, 2023. (AFP/File)
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Updated 12 April 2023
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Karachi's political stakeholders object as census estimates city's population may decrease

  • Political parties have accused PPP-led Sindh government of gerrymandering elections via incorrect population data
  • Census findings estimate Karachi's population may decline from 16,024,894 in 2017 to 14,979,617 in 2023, down 6.5%
Updated 12 April 2023
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Leading political parties in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi on Wednesday expressed doubts over the veracity of an ongoing census whose findings estimate that the megalopolis' population may decrease by 6.5 percent.  

Electoral seats in Pakistan’s parliament as well as funding for basic services like schools and hospitals are assigned using population density data. Pakistan kicked off its first digital census process on March 1, with over 120,000 enumerators using tablets and mobiles to record population data. The South Asian country last held a census in 2017.

The southern port city of Karachi functions as Pakistan's economic hub where the census has always been marred with controversy. The city's prominent political parties, the Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have blamed the Sindh government, led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of gerrymandering Karachi's elections by deliberately recording incorrect population data. 

A report by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) issued on April 7, 2023, estimates a potential decrease of 6.52 percent in Karachi's population, from 16,024,894 in 2017 to 14,979,617 in 2023. The report says 90 percent of the census in the city has been completed. 

As far as Pakistan's southern Sindh province is concerned, 95.25 percent of the census has been completed, with enumerators recording its population at 47,584,101 individuals. The overall population of Sindh in 2017 was 47,854,510, and it is expected to rise to 49,955,625.40 after the census is completed in all households, the report says. 

The estimated decrease in Karachi's population by district category is 7.88 percent in District Central, 12.29 percent in District East, 13.32 percent in District South, 0.16 percent in District West, 7.07 percent in District Keamari, and 10.74 percent in District Korangi.

Interestingly, District Malir, considered the PPP's stronghold, is Karachi's only district where the population is expected to increase in this year's census. The estimated population count for Malir in the upcoming census is 2,119,874, which is at least 10.16 percent more than the population recorded in the 2017 census, which was 1,924,346.

"The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will not accept it, God forbid, if the population of Karachi decreases," Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon told Arab News.

Javed Hanif, a provincial lawmaker, and member of the MQM-P’s central coordination committee, said his party could clearly see “malafide intentions” behind the census results in Karachi and its neighboring Hyderabad city. Historically, the MQM-P has held sway over the two cities. 

“There seems to be a malafide intention to deprive Karachi of whatever little it has. Almost 100 percent of the enumerators are employees of the Sindh government who haven’t counted the population of Karachi properly,” Hanif told Arab News. 

The lawmaker said Karachi's population had increased mainly due to two factors: natural growth and internal migration.

“As we had serious reservations over the census of 2017, the results of the ongoing census and estimates are further problematic and incorrect,” he added.

The MQM-P leader said his party had recently met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal to discuss the census. “If our concerns are not addressed, we may consider quitting the government as protecting the rights of the people of Karachi is of foremost importance to us,” he added.

Sindh Minister for Labour Saeed Ghani said while the enumerators were indeed Sindh government employees, they are not "in our control" as they are working with the PBS.

“The element of secrecy should be eliminated, and transparency should be brought so that objections raised may be checked and addressed,” Ghani told Arab News.

JI Karachi chief Naeem-ur-Rehman said the enumerators are "untrained and there is issue with [Karachi's] maps." 

"People of Karachi will not accept any more deception in the name of digital census,” he said, calling for the formation of a committee comprising informed stakeholders to rectify the situation. 

Abdul Jabbar Nasir, a senior election reporter, said if the final results show Karachi's population has decreased, a few seats of the national and provincial assembly may be moved from the port city to other parts of Sindh.

“The results of the census will directly impact representation of the city in national and provincial legislatures,” he said.

Topics: Pakistan Karachi census

Indian-administered Kashmir crackdown sparks anger as Pakistan tensions escalate

Updated 28 April 2025
AFP
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Indian-administered Kashmir crackdown sparks anger as Pakistan tensions escalate

  • New Delhi has accused Pakistan of supporting ‘cross-border terrorism’ after gunmen killed 26 people in Kashmir on Apr. 22
  • Islamabad has denied any role and called attempts to link Pakistan to the attack ‘frivolous,’ vowing to respond to Indian action
Updated 28 April 2025
AFP

SRINAGAR: Anger in Indian-administered Kashmir escalated on Monday over sweeping detentions in the hunt for the gunmen who carried out a deadly attack last week that New Delhi blames on arch-rival Pakistan.
New Delhi has accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen killed 26 people on April 22, the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.
Islamabad has denied any role, calling attempts to link Pakistan to the attack “frivolous” and vowing to respond to Indian action.
Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals have plunged to their lowest level in years, sparking worries by analysts of possible military action.
The attack also sparked a huge manhunt for the gunmen in Kashmir, with Indian security forces blowing up nine homes of suspected rebels, as well as detaining nearly 2,000 people for questioning, a senior police official told AFP.
“Punish the guilty, show them no mercy, but don’t let innocent people become collateral damage,” Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a statement.
Aga Ruhullah, a federal lawmaker from Kashmir, said: “Kashmir and Kashmiris are being given a collective punishment.”
Security operations in the search for the gunmen come as India and Pakistani forces have exchanged fire across the de facto border in the rugged and remote high-altitude Himalayan outposts.
India’s army said on Monday its troops and Pakistani forces had fired at each other for a fourth night in a row.
There were no reported casualties. Islamabad did not immediately confirm the gunfire from Pakistan.
“During the night of April 27-28... Pakistan Army posts initiated unprovoked small arms fire across the Line of Control,” the Indian army said in a statement, referring to the de facto border in contested Kashmir.
“Indian troops responded swiftly and effectively,” it said.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.
Both claim the territory in full.
Rebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.
Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men — two Pakistanis and an Indian — who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organization.
They have announced a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man’s arrest.
India is also hunting several of its own citizens in connection to the killings, sweeping up those they suspect may have information on the attackers.
“It’s a revolving door in police stations as part of the ongoing investigation,” said a senior police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
“Some have already been let go, and more are being summoned to police stations,” the officer said.
The homes of men suspected of having links to the attackers have also been blown up at night.
Yasmeena, the sister of fugitive accused Ashif Sheikh, said her family was being punished, with their home demolished even though they had not seen her brother for three years.
“If my brother is involved, how is it the family’s sin?” she said.
“This house doesn’t belong to him alone.”
New Delhi has downgraded diplomatic ties since the attack, withdrawn visas for Pakistanis, suspended a water-sharing treaty, and announced the closure of the main land border crossing with Pakistan.
In response, Islamabad ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and military advisers, canceled visas for Indian nationals and barred its airspace to Indian airplanes.
India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday after warning last week that those responsible for the attack in Kashmir would see a response “loud and clear.”
The United Nations has urged the arch-rivals to show “maximum restraint” so that issues can be “resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement.”
China, which shares a border with both India and Pakistan, urged both sides on Monday to “exercise restraint, meet each other halfway” and “properly handle relevant differences through dialogue,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.
Iran has already offered to mediate, and Saudi Arabia has said Riyadh was trying to “prevent an escalation.”

Topics: Kashmir Pakistan India Ties

Pakistan university, COMSTECH ink MoU for scholarships of Palestinian students

Updated 28 April 2025
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Pakistan university, COMSTECH ink MoU for scholarships of Palestinian students

  • Abbottabad University of Science and Technology will offer 40 scholarships to Palestinian students in various undergraduate programs
  • Program aims to support Palestinian students by covering their tuition and hostel fees, and provide them stipends, says state media
Updated 28 April 2025
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani university has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) to provide scholarships to Palestinian students, state media reported on Monday.

The initiative is part of the “COMSTECH Scholarships and Research Fellowships for Palestinian Nationals” program, which aims to support Palestinian students by covering their tuition and hostel fees. The program also provides them monthly stipends, enabling Palestinian students to pursue higher education in Pakistan. 

“The OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) and Abbottabad University of Science and Technology (AUST) on Sunday signed a MoU to offer scholarships to Palestinian students for the academic year 2025-2026,” the APP said. 

As per the MoU, the Pakistani university would provide tuition to Palestinian students through both online and on-campus learning modes, APP said. 

“The UST Abbottabad will offer 40 scholarships in various undergraduate programs including Doctor of Physiotherapy, Doctor of Pharmacy, BS Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT), BS Microbiology, BS Food Sciences, BS Computer Science and BS Software Engineering,” the report said.

Last year, Pakistan’s University of Lahore offered 5,000 free scholarships, fellowships and short training programs for Palestinian students in collaboration with COMSTECH.

Pakistan has actively tried to help Palestinian students secure higher education in the country after Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 52,000 Palestinians since Oct, 7, 2023, in the densely populated enclave. 

Over 300 Palestinian students were enrolled in Pakistani universities in 2024 while more than 50,000 Palestinian nationals have graduated from educational institutions in Pakistan over the years.

Topics: COMSTECH Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Abbottabad University of Science and Technology

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Seven killed in blast at pro-government peace committee’s offices in northwestern Pakistan

Updated 28 April 2025
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Seven killed in blast at pro-government peace committee’s offices in northwestern Pakistan

  • No group has claimed responsibility for blast but suspicion is likely to fall on Pakistani Taliban militants
  • Such peace committees often comprise local tribal elders who publicly oppose Pakistani Taliban group
Updated 28 April 2025
REHMAT MEHSUD

PESHAWAR: Seven people were killed and over a dozen injured on Monday when a blast targeted the offices of a pro-government peace committee in Pakistan’s northwest, police said, as rescue teams attempted to reach those trapped under the rubble.

The blast took place in Wana, a city in South Waziristan district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan, and hit the offices of a government-backed peace committee on Monday afternoon, killing seven and injuring at least 16, South Waziristan police spokesperson Habib Islam told Arab News. 

Such committees often comprise local tribal leaders who publicly oppose the Pakistani Taliban militants, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group that has claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan. While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, suspicion is likely to fall on the TTP.

“Details into the casualties are still coming because two offices of the peace committee commander Saifur Rehman collapsed due to the intensity of the blast,” Islam told Arab News. “A number of people are trapped under the rubble.”

He said it was as yet unclear if this was a suicide attack or the explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device.

Tribal elder Almir Khan Wazir said two commanders of the peace committee, Rehman and Tehsil Wazir, were in critical condition. 

“They were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in critical condition,” Wazir said.

The blast took place as Pakistan’s military said 71 militants had been killed in a number of armed operations in the nearby North Waziristan district in the last three days. 

Pakistan blames the Taliban government in Afghanistan for providing sanctuary to TTP militants, threatening cross-border action unless Kabul withdraws its support for militant groups. Afghanistan denies the allegations and has urged Pakistan to resolve its security challenges internally.

Topics: Wana Blast Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan Terrorism in Pakistan

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Pakistan army says 71 militants killed in three days of operations in northwest

Updated 28 April 2025
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Pakistan army says 71 militants killed in three days of operations in northwest

  • The 71 deaths reported are an usually high number in Pakistan’s battle against militancy along its border with Afghanistan
  • Latest operations highlight the challenges Pakistani forces face on multiple fronts as tensions with India also rise rapidly
Updated 28 April 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Monday 71 militants had been killed in three days of armed operations in the country’s northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan where the military has been battling a surge in militancy.

On Sunday, the army said it had killed 54 militants trying to infiltrate the country from Afghanistan, highlighting the challenges its forces face on multiple fronts as tensions with India also rise rapidly.

In a fresh statement on Monday, the army said it had carried out a “sanitization operation” in the North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the night of Apr. 27-28 following Sunday’s campaigns. 

“During the conduct of the operation, seventeen more khwarij [militants] who were operating on behest of their foreign masters were hunted down and successfully neutralized,” the army said in a statement.

“The number of khwarij killed in three days operation has risen to seventy one.”

The 71 deaths reported are an usually high number in Pakistan’s battle against militancy and instability along its border with Afghanistan during the nearly four years since the United States withdrew its military support from the country and the Taliban took over Kabul.

The banned group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, has intensified attacks on Pakistani security forces, straining ties between Pakistan’s leaders and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of harboring and supporting TTP fighters, an allegation they deny.

Pakistan is also facing an intensifying separatist insurgency in the southwestern Balochistan province. The possibility of conventional skirmishes with nuclear-armed neighbor India to the east have also risen since last week when 26 tourists were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi has blamed Islamabad, which has denied involvement. 

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is claimed by both the nuclear states, and has been the site of multiple wars, insurgencies and diplomatic standoffs.

Topics: Pakistan Army Military operation Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan

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India bans Pakistani channels in social media crackdown

Updated 28 April 2025
AFP
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India bans Pakistani channels in social media crackdown

  • Banned platforms include YouTube channels of Pakistani news outlets Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, Raftar and Geo News
  • India has accused Pakistan of being involved in attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22 which Islamabad denies
Updated 28 April 2025
AFP

NEW DELHI: India launched a sweeping crackdown on social media on Monday, banning more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content following an attack in Kashmir.

The banned platforms include the YouTube channels of Pakistani news outlets Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, Bol News, Raftar, Geo News and Suno News.

The sites were blocked in India on Monday, with a message reading it was due to an “order from the government related to national security or public order.”

The Press Trust of India news agency, which listed 16 channels, cited a government statement saying they were blocked for “disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India.”

The ban follows the deadly April 22 shooting that targeted tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. Twenty-six men were killed in the attack, the worst on civilians in the contested region for a quarter of a century.

India has accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” but Islamabad has denied any role in the attack.

The information ministry also issued an advisory notice on Saturday calling on journalists and social media users to “exercise utmost responsibility” while reporting on matters “concerning defense and other security related operations.”

The advisory note, which cited previous cases of conflict with Pakistan including fighting in 1999 at Kargil, warned that “premature disclosure of sensitive information may inadvertently assist hostile elements and endanger operational effectiveness.”

Indian social media accounts have also been awash with comments on the killings at Pahalgam, with hashtags including #WarWithPakistan and #FinishPakistan trending on social media platform X.

Topics: India Youtube ban Pakistan India Ties Social Media Ban

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