Many members of various minority groups, including Christians, are not being counted, they claim.
Christian leaders in Pakistan have slammed the ongoing national census saying the questionnaires were erratic and accused the enumerators of not counting many members of minority groups.“Many parish houses [parsonages] have been skipped. Maybe they thought no one stays in churches. Since every parish has at least three priests, at least 40 people will be missing in the count [in the city],” Father Mario Rodrigues, rector of St. Patrick’s High School in Karachi, the country’s largest city, told UCA News. The population in the port city stands at more than 16.5 million as per the seventh national population and housing census that started last month. Christian leaders like Rodrigues in Karachi and those in other cities have issued a series of allegations against the first-ever digital census including undercounting, faulty questionaries, and delaying tactics. Based on the latest data, the state-run Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said the current population of the country is estimated at 235 million. The agency did not reveal data on the religious minorities in the predominantly Muslim country. The bureau initially planned to hold the census from March 1- April 1, but it was later extended to April 30, media reports say. The field activities were halted on April 20 for the Eid-ul-Fitr festival and will resume on April 26.
Anglican Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz Peter of Peshawar Diocese, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, alleged the bureau has been adopting delaying tactics to undercount Christians.
“The usual lack of transparency is an attempt to undercount Christians of Pakistan who are the biggest and most vocal religious minority in the country. Tribal Christians of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were mostly skipped in the last census as well,” Peter said.
The last national census of 2017 showed Pakistan had 2.6 million Christians who made up 1.27 percent of a population of 207 million. Hindus were at 1.73 percent.
Majid Abel, executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan accused the bureau of engaging insufficient and untrained staff in the census process leading to undercounting.
“The entire population with its religious, ethnic, caste, gender or racial identity must be reflected in the results which should be available at the union council level. People must be allowed to identify the missed population,” he said.
On April 17, the Lahore-based Center for Social Justice (CSJ) and Peoples Commission for Minorities Rights voiced grievances over irregularities in the census and demanded remedies.
“In violation of the instructions, the census enumerators have used an incomplete and different paper questionnaire instead of [computer] tablets to collect household data at least in four cities including Lahore,” CSJ executive director, Peter Jacob, told a press conference.
He also said the standard questionnaire omitted columns on Baha’i and Kailash, both among 18 state-recognized religious groups.
"Usage of multiple census forms will create confusion"
The bureau "neglected rigidly the necessary aspects of preparation. This is an injustice and a betrayal of the nation,” Jacob said, adding that the census must continue until these issues are addressed.
The standard census form provides columns for religious groups in seven categories including Muslim, Christian, Hindu Jati, Ahmadi, Scheduled Cast, Sikh, and Parsi. The unnamed minority groups are lumped together in the “others” category.
Peter Jacob, a Catholic, said that the enumerators used a second paper questionnaire that skipped the categories of religion, transgender, and disability. He claimed CSJ volunteers who were engaged in a census awareness campaign in 24 districts reported the discrepancy.
Anglican pastor Emanuel Khokhar, dean of Raiwind diocese in Punjab province, claimed a third questionnaire was used.
“The original one mentions Christians as Masihi while this one refers to us as Isai. Usage of multiple census forms will create confusion. It was revoked at least in our locality after local Christians protested but this is a dangerous trend,” he said.
Ashiknaz Khokhar, a Christian youth activist and census observer in Sahiwal, Punjab province, alleged that 30 Christian brick kiln families in city suburbs were not counted.
On April 11, Pakistan Minority Rights Commission secretary-general Roheel Zafar Shahi filed a complaint with the government about the “incomplete census” of the Bahar Colony, home to 350 churches and around 50,000 Christians in Lahore.
Christians from Youhanabad, the largest Christian colony in Lahore with some 150,000 residents, also made similar allegations.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/christians-slam-pakistans-faulty-census/101102
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