https://arab.news/z2kwa
- Residents say decades-old homes face demolition despite relocation, compensation claims
- Authorities call occupants illegal, cite court rulings and prior payouts
ISLAMABAD: Rubina Saleem sits inside her one-room home in Allama Iqbal Colony, a cramped settlement of narrow alleys in Islamabad’s G-7 sector, just a stone’s throw from the capital’s sprawling bungalows.
The 56-year-old widow and domestic worker heads a family of nine. Earlier this week, heavy machinery arrived at the edge of her neighborhood to demolish homes, only to be turned back after residents staged a desperate protest.
“Brick by brick, sometimes we built a small wall, sometimes a little more,” she told Arab News.
“We never had enough money all at once … We worked in people’s houses, washing dishes, cleaning and, through that hard work, we … we slowly built this house.”
The threat facing Saleem’s family is part of an intensifying campaign by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to clear informal settlements, or katchi abadis, across Islamabad, as authorities move to reclaim what they describe as state land and push forward urban development projects.
The drive has displaced thousands in recent months and drawn criticism from rights groups, who say evictions are being carried out without adequate notice, legal safeguards or resettlement plans. Around half a million people are estimated to live in such informal settlements in the capital, many working in low-paid service jobs that support the city’s economy.
In January, authorities demolished Muslim Colony, a decades-old settlement near the Prime Minister’s House and Diplomatic Enclave, leaving thousands homeless. The campaign has since expanded to Saidpur village, Bari Imam and Christian-majority settlements including Allama Iqbal and Rimsha colonies.
Authorities maintain that the land was legally acquired by the CDA and that current residents are trespassers who have already been compensated.
Dr. Anam Fatima, director of municipal administration at the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation, told Arab News that the occupants are on CDA land illegally.
“At the time of acquisition each landowner was given 100 kanal land lots in exchange for 4 kanal,” Fatima said, adding that owners were also paid in cash for their houses, with a kanal being a local unit of land measurement equivalent to about 505 square meters.
While some residents were previously issued temporary yearly permits to stay on unused land, she said this “does not create any right on part of occupier nor any liability on part of CDA.”
Fatima said a 2011 Supreme Court judgment forbids the CDA from making “package deals” on acquired land and mandates taking full possession.
“In the ongoing ops, not only notices were issued months in advance, but numerous hearings were also given by CDA officials regarding any unsettled claims,” she said.
While no official statistics have been released on the total number of people affected, community leaders estimate thousands will be displaced across four primary locations.
Tensions have already flared in Bari Imam, where police this week used tear gas to disperse protesters attempting to block demolition teams.
For many residents, however, the “illegal” designation reflects a deeper sense of betrayal, with families saying they were either allowed to settle or relocated by the state itself over the years.
Khurram Masih, a shopkeeper in Rimsha Colony, said his family was moved to the H-9 sector by the government in 2012 following blasphemy allegations against a local girl in their previous neighborhood, Mehrabad, but now faces eviction there as well.
“The government gave us this option to settle here, so we did,” he said. “We did not come here on our own, we were told to come and sit here.”
“We have no other option,” he continued. “The only roof we have is this blue sky.”
The struggle is even more acute for those who have already lost homes to earlier demolitions.
Yasmeen Bibi, a widow and domestic worker in Saidpur, is now watching her second home face destruction.
“I am poor, a widow,” she told Arab News. “First one house of mine was demolished, and now the second one has also been demolished.”
“We are sitting here helplessly and without any support,” she added. “I built all this by saving every single rupee, every single penny.”
Residents of these settlements form the backbone of Islamabad’s service economy, working as cleaners, cooks and laborers for the city’s wealthier neighborhoods, yet say they are only acknowledged by authorities during election cycles.
“When they need votes, all kinds of people come here, but once they get votes and seats, they forget us,” Saleem said. “We have no value in Pakistan.”
As the CDA insists the law must be enforced, families say the sudden loss of homes, many built incrementally over decades, will leave them with nowhere to go.
“We have even lived in tents,” Saleem said, looking at the walls she built over a quarter-century. “Now we don’t have enough money to buy another place. Where should we go? What is the government doing to us? Is this justice?”