ISLAMABAD – Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar has said only the prime minister can rein in ‘disastrous’ population growth in the country.
Addressing a symposium in the federal capital Wednesday on the alarming population growth in Pakistan, the chief justice termed unbridled population growth as the “most disastrous issue” for the country.
“Our water reserves and resources are depleting, but our mouths [to feed] are increasing,” he said while regretting that the “menace” was not given any attention in the past 60 years.
The top judge also explained that “the judiciary does not have any mechanism to act on these recommendations”.
“The only person who can get any action done is the prime minister,” he stated and assured full support from the judiciary to make Imran Khan’s dream of turning Pakistan into the Madina-like welfare state.
Pakistan’s population is growing at an alarming rate and if measures are not taken it will double in 30 years.
The symposium organised by the Law and Justice Commission was presided over by the CJP with Prime Minister Imran Khan as the chief guest. The event was attended by state ministers, provincial chief ministers, judges of the Supreme Court, ministers and other officials including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider.
Population growth threatens food security, cautions PM Imran
Responding to the CJP’s call in his address at the day-long symposium, Prime Minister Imran Khan first thanked Mian Saqib Nisar for welcoming him to the event and then lauded the steps taken by the top judge in larger interest of the masses.
Recalling the “effective” family planning TV campaigns from the 1960’s, Khan expressed “the nation’s resolve to address the population growth in the country”, reported Radio Pakistan.
The premier blamed “a short-term thinking” for the monstrous issues of rapid population growth and shortage of water and other resources. “The democratic governments only used to think about five years,” Khan said, adding that nothing could be accomplished in that time span for major issues.
“As the population continues to grow, our food security will be affected,” he warned.
Khan noted that the delivery system of contraceptives in the country was an issue but what was actually needed was an ambition to resolve the problem.
He also urged the religious scholars to lead the population control campaigns from mosques.
Ahead of the symposium on population control in the Supreme Court, the PM and the CJP held a 30-minute long one-on-one meeting inside the CJP’s chamber.
The problem is ‘illiteracy’, says Maulana Tariq Jamil
At the symposium, renowned preacher Maulana Tariq Jamil observed that the problem in Pakistan was “illiteracy” and stressed the importance of education to bring population growth under control.
The conference provided experts a platform to talk about new demographic realities of Pakistan, family planning in the context of mother and child health, quality of population and productivity, and advocacy campaign for population planning in the country.
Vice-president of the Population Council, John Bongaarts, the first speaker of the event, highlighted the levels of contraceptives used in Pakistan as compared to other countries in the region such as Bangladesh and India.
He also presented the benefits of family planning programmes, adding that this was an extremely important event for Pakistan.
Co-chair of the World Health Organisation High-Level Independent Commission on Non-communicable diseases, Dr Sania Nishtar, termed it “a landmark day” and remarked that the “stellar show of strength” of various stakeholders was “critical” to the cause.
A documentary on population dynamics was also presented at the event.
