By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
Pakistan has begun the second phase of its sixth census of its ever-growing populace amid heightened security on Tuesday following a spate of terrorist attacks on census staff across the country.
In the second phase, some 88 districts of the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan region, northwestern tribal region, and Azad (liberated) Kashmir will be covered till May 24, Habibullah Khattak, a spokesman for Pakistan Bureau of Statistics told Anadolu Agency.
The preliminary results of the long-due census, he said, are expected to be announced within 60 days after completion of the second phase.
The sixth census, which is being held after a gap of 18 years, had begun in March 15, and covered some 63 districts.
The house listing and the two-phase enumeration exercise is estimated to cost the national exchequer around 14.5 billion rupees (approximately $138 million).
The move by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government came only after the Supreme Court took suo motu action over the delay in carrying out the crucial process.
This is the second time the census has been delayed since the country gained its independence in 1947 from the then British Empire.
The first four censuses -- 1951, 1961, 1972, and 1981 -- were all held on time, but the fifth census was held after a seven-year delay in 1998.
Pakistan is estimated to be the second-largest Muslim country in terms of population after Indonesia. It currently ranks as the sixth-most populated country in the world.
According to the 1951 census, there used to be just 33.7 million people in the country, which rose to 42.8 million in 1961, 65 million in 1972 and 85 million in 1981.
The last census of 1998 estimated the population at roughly over 130 million with Punjab emerging again as the most populated province, followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
The government of Pakistan and the United Nations believe the current population to be somewhere between 180 million and 200 million.
Security threats
A series of terrorist attacks on census staff has compelled law enforcing authorities to further beef up the security of census officials.
The latest incident was reported from remote Kurram Agency tribal region near Afghanistan border on Tuesday where two census officials were among 8 injured in landmine blast that struck a van.
In a separate incident, seven people, including four army troops, were killed and 24 injured in a suicide attack targeting a census team in northeastern Lahore city of Punjab earlier this month.
The census staff accompanied by army troops will start counting heads in the bordering areas with longtime rival India on its side of disputed Kashmir valley from Wednesday amid fears of possible clashes between the two border forces during the enumeration process.
Pakistan army spokesman said in a statement that the Indian army command had been informed about troops movement along the bordering area for census with a view to avoiding any “provocation”, and ensuring the safety of census staff.
The two border forces have been at loggerheads since last September following a brazen militant attack on an army base in Indian-held Kashmir, which killed 19 Indian soldiers.
Pakistan army has already deployed 200,000 soldiers to provide security to 84,000 enumerators across the country.
New initiatives
For the first time in the country’s history, transsexual people will be counted separately. In a move hailed by human rights bodies, people will now have three numeric choices in the enumeration form to mark their gender: man, woman or transsexual.
The enumerators will also count millions of Afghan refugees who have been residing in the country for a long time separately.
Currently, Pakistan is hosting 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees -- the second largest refugee population in the world after Turkey, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 2016.
Authorities, however, estimate Afghan refugees living illegally in Pakistan to be over a million.
The census will also determine specific population of religious minorities, particularly Christians and Hindus, whose current numbers are based on estimates.
According to current estimates, Christians make up the country’s largest minority with 3 percent of the total 180 million population, whereas Hindus constitute 2 percent of the population.
But the number of registered Hindu voters is slightly higher than Christian voters.
According to local English daily Dawn, the current population of Christians and Hindus is estimated to be between 2 million and 10 million, and from 2.5 million to 4.5 million, respectively.
Regional languages ignored
The census form lists only nine of the country’s over 70 national, provincial and regional languages, upsetting many communities that believe the move threatens the existence of their already ‘in trouble’ languages.
People have been given a choice to tick one language from the national language Urdu and regional languages Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtu, Balochi, Siraiki, Brahvi, Hindko, and Kashmiri.
Pakistan has dozens of other languages as well, some of which have been declared as endangered. However, Gilgiti, Gojali, Gujrati, Urmrai, Doomaki, Sheena and other languages spoken in between the snow-capped north to the country’s warm south have not been mentioned in the census form.
The census is also expected to highlight the country’s actual literacy rate. According to official estimates, Pakistan’s literacy rate in 2016 was 69 percent for males, and 49 percent for females, leaving a gap of 20 percent between the two genders.
