Slum-dwellers clash with authorities over Islamabad anti-encroachment drive

E-Paper | March 11, 2026

ISLAMABAD: A clash broke out in Islamabad's Sector I-11 between slum-dwellers and Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials on Thursday as authorities backed by some 1,200 police personnel and rangers launched an anti-encroachment operation against informal settlements in the area.

All roads leading to Afghan Basti were blocked before the operation was launched to raze more than 800 illegal homes constructed in Sector I-11.

Police shelling protesting residents. ─ DawnNews screengrab

The operation was met with resistance from residents of the settlement. Television footage showed clashes occurring between authorities and residents as policemen and women dragged protesting residents away from the site.

Residents of the settlement were shown throwing stones at policemen who fought back, baton-charging the slum-dwellers and using teargas to disperse them.

Slum-dwellers throwing stones at policemen. ─ DawnNews

Bulldozers demolished temporary homes in the settlement as policemen held onlookers back from disrupting the process.

A bulldozer demolishing a house in the I/11 slum. ─ DawnNews screengrab

Meanwhile, rights activists expressed dismay at the forced evictions, spurring debate on social media on whether the slum dwellers should be evicted in this manner without arrangement of alternative housing.

The hashtag #stopevictions has been trending on social-media website Twitter for the past few hours.

Earlier, fearing resistance from the katchi abadi residents, the CDA had delayed the operation which was to be held on Wednesday.

Also read: CDA backs off from operation to remove I-11 slum

The I-11 Katchi Abadi, according to a survey carried out by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2013, is home to 864 families and 8,000 people live there. During a visit to the slum on Wednesday, it was observed that in their negotiations with the CDA, residents were unwilling to settle for anything less than alternative land.

Earlier this week, an enforcement team of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) along with a large number of police personnel had failed to launch an operation to remove the I-11 slum after a seven-hour-long face-off with the dwellers.

The residents of the katchi abadi proved that they were organised, well-connected and had been tipped-off about the operation a day earlier. CDA officials seemed disappointed over the attitude of the police who did not seem interested in taking action against the dwellers.

On June 26, the CDA had submitted a four-phase plan to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for the removal of illegal slums.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddique had directed the CDA to remove the katchi abadi from I-11 where a new sector could not be developed due to the presence of the illegal settlers for over three decades.

Also read: ‘Action against illegal slums continuing’

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the I-11 Katchi Abadi housed 20,000 people. The estimate has now been updated to reflect findings of a recent UNHCR survey.

Pakistan

IHC fines NAB Rs100,000 for employing ‘delaying tactics’ in £190m graft case against Imran, Bushra

Rain, snowfall trigger landslides in GB, blocking Karakoram Highway at multiple locations

PM Shehbaz orders third-party audit of austerity plan

blue saffron

Jul 30, 2015 04:11pm

Nobody should be allowed to interfere with development, they should be dealt with Iron Hand.

Recommend 0

Awan

Jul 30, 2015 04:13pm

The real problem is that these plots belong to someone. They are being occupied illegally. Also why these settlements do not exists in villages but on the Most Prime land of Pakistan. ? . Moreover most of them belong from Afghanistan and whenever the point arises then they will abuse this country. So this problem should to be resolved at all costs.

Recommend 0

Ustaad

Jul 30, 2015 04:18pm

Good work Ch. Nisar ,but make sure no casualities.

Recommend 0

Kamal Pasha

Jul 30, 2015 04:19pm

Cut out the power and water and close the entry and exit for traffic in the area.

Recommend 0

IUH

Jul 30, 2015 04:29pm

Why the CDA and Govt allowed the people to make slum here? Now if govt realised after 2-3 decades and decide to evacuate them then its also the govt responsibility to give them alternate shelter otherwise the situation may worsen.

Recommend 0

natey

Jul 30, 2015 04:30pm

i feel sad for poor ppl but at same time u cant have such houses in capital city..its same here in malaysia also they destroy all wooden houses in 2005..that was target..maybe government can make flats little bit far from islamabad for poor ppl to rent monthly...it is government housing

Recommend 0

Pervert Caretti

Jul 30, 2015 04:37pm

We need anti encroachment drive at Raiwand road & near Bilawal house too.

Recommend 0

Pervert Caretti

Jul 30, 2015 04:45pm

What about illegal occupation by Badmash brothers at Raiwand road, Lahore & Mr. 10% house in Karachi. Oops! We can't these are properties of our leaders.

Recommend 0

N.Siddiqui

Jul 30, 2015 04:45pm

Where there is huge palatial bungalows...there are going to be slums. All household workers like drivers, janitors, cleaners, sweepers working in the nearby Bungalows lives in these slums. You can't have two extremes, there should be some moderate practical living like there in developed countries, an engineer and a technician lives in the same kind of housing. No stark discrepancy in wealth distribution. In Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Japan there are no concept of huge Bungalows and no concept of slums as well. There should be some semblance of equality in this land of pure, a better distribution of wealth, dignity of labor, and above all dignity of all human being.

Recommend 0

bryan

Jul 30, 2015 05:00pm

@blue saffron its not possible to be like China. they are on the roads because of flawed policies. provide them affordable housing. also they are asking for very basic things in life. cant a progressive nationprovide just basics? in india we ask the same .... but we can never be like china. cmon they are our own people lets do something constructive about poor

Recommend 0

waquas mohammed

Jul 30, 2015 05:08pm

My plot which has had no value for the last 20 years maybe worth something now or potentially can be developed

Recommend 0

iftikhar

Jul 30, 2015 05:14pm

these poor folks must be provided alternative housing and not simply thrown away! Rich have occupied the whole Country Illegally! Courts are only defending the Corrupt and powerful Mafia. Pakistan is calling to abolhe th

Recommend 0

Khaled

Jul 30, 2015 05:19pm

Why? cant similar action be taken against encroachments in residential areas of F/7 where violators indulge in non-confirmatory use of residential house. Why is it that laws always apply to the down trodden?

Recommend 0

Hindutavi Rakshas

Jul 30, 2015 05:26pm

This is unjutsice with poor people, if you want to clean then stop the illegal housing society mushrooming not just in capital city but almost in every town to city, mostly they got the land cheaply with their links in high ups and sell them to poor people by making plots that is the real encroachment if one can courage to remove then do that, These people have no home until government does not provide them alternate home or build homes for them anywhere they should avoid doing such hard action in which casualty could happen.

Recommend 0

KeyPoints

Jul 30, 2015 05:28pm

Yes, slums should not be allowed, specially next to nation's capital. However, we need to find out why there are so many slums all over Pakistan? Fact is that a class system is developing between vich rich and very poors of the country. More the rich loot, more the poors get poorer. You see more of poors with no clean water, electricity, no schooling for poor children, no medical for poor, old and sick. On the other hand you see more of rich, with bigger, castle like houses, more BMWs and Lexus, more plots, more land acerage, some with many sugar mills, some with big real extate investments in Pakistan, Dubai and London. Sham democracy works by looting faster and getting rich quickly, may be there are no laws against muk muka, and desperate people of Pakistan find themselves helpless against khandani controlled parties controlling their fate.

Recommend 0

Dara Singh

Jul 30, 2015 05:51pm

Incarcerate them, document them, then release them.

Recommend 0

Waseem

Jul 30, 2015 05:57pm

Will anyone consider the 'farmhouse' in Chak Shehzad as encroachment. I doubt, if Capital is getting any signle egg, cheicken, cumumber, or leaf of Salad from So called agricultural land allotted to the big wigs?

Recommend 0

Asif Bhatti

Jul 30, 2015 06:30pm

get rid of these afgans as soon as possible.

Recommend 0

Ahmad

Jul 30, 2015 06:39pm

No illegal activity be allowed,what ever is form or manner by a person or group in any domain . Civil Rights or Human rights or religious rights all be considered based on foremost rule.

Recommend 0

Cyrus

Jul 30, 2015 06:48pm

Slum clearance Zimbabwe style.

Recommend 0

Zubaida khan

Jul 30, 2015 06:49pm

Please do not overlook the people who actually paid for the land only to have them encroached upon. The land needs to given back to its rightful owner. These encroachers were placed here by a mafia. The should be made to pay rent for the 3 decades.

Recommend 0

Aditya

Jul 30, 2015 06:50pm

And there goes another hardline group in rising.

Recommend 0

naveed

Jul 30, 2015 06:50pm

Looks like palestine

Recommend 0

Zubaida khan

Jul 30, 2015 06:52pm

@Khaled it's a beginning. You have to start somewhere. Times are changing in Pakistan. People are becoming more law aware.

Recommend 0

Asif Jamil

Jul 30, 2015 07:41pm

If these people have occupied others' land, they need to be removed. Also, Afghans have not only illegally occupied land in Pakistan, they have destroyed our forests and cut the trees and sold them as firewood. As usual, the authorities are in deep slumber and wake up after years when the occupiers start believing it is their right to be on the land. The authorities need to get their act together and take timely action to nip these things in the bud.

Recommend 0

saeeds

Jul 30, 2015 07:59pm

These all illegal development should be dealt with iron hand this unjustice who pay for plot and pay there bill. But Why they constructed in first place and who were responsible for these illegal construction. @Pervert Caretti don't bring your politics in every matter.

Recommend 0

Zafar

Jul 30, 2015 08:03pm

This is somebody's land that these people are living on. People paid good money for these plots, and they need to put these to some use. However it is not possible with the slum dwellers living there. I am sure, government can give them another piece somewhere on its vast expanse.

Recommend 0

Eman

Jul 30, 2015 08:07pm

@N.Siddiqui Have you ever been to any of these countries. In the US so many people live in slum like conditions and yes there is a huge divide between the Haves and Have nots. Most of Detroit on one side of 8 mile is basically slums and burnt down homes. The other side is mansions and upscale shopping malls ect. Don't make comments when you don't know.

Recommend 0

N.Siddiqui

Jul 30, 2015 08:14pm

@Eman I've not mentioned US, check out my comments, I knew being a capitalist country where wealth accumulation is stark and there is huge discrepancy between rich and poor. I've mentioned mostly countries with a welfare system, Scandinavian countries and Canada and Japan. US is not an ideal country in this regard.

Recommend 0

Raymond Davis

Jul 30, 2015 08:23pm

@saeeds Its not politics its about legal and justice as you said. There is a Chinese saying; "Fish begins to rot from the head first". Accountability starts from the top first. I guess you might be ignorant from these types of educated phrases because you belong to the same clan.

Recommend 0

KeyPoints

Jul 30, 2015 08:44pm

@Waseem Don't forget how laws are to be implemented for 'rich politicians and elites'? Do I one needs to explain any further?

Recommend 0

mukut

Jul 30, 2015 08:57pm

Poor people driven out forcefully which they built house with blood and hardwork.

Recommend 0

niju

Jul 30, 2015 10:52pm

Pakistan constitution are protecting the zamindars, princess, elite ,army and politician..poor and common man have no right in constitution.. Please do the following changes 1..bring a land bill in Pakistan stating no man can hold more than 100 acres.the rest of the land divide among poor of Pakistan. 2 increase the powers of income tax institution. Make them to collect tax

Recommend 0

sana

Jul 30, 2015 11:08pm

All those taking sides of poor afghans do you know that they are occupying a land of 300 people? yes 300 people! they made 3 bedroom houses in there, ask anyone or read news.... These afghans made this area a No-Go area! Police cant go in there, they are not even on the radar of agencies.....at night these people spread all over the nearby areas and pick anything, that is anything, cars, mobile phones, electric motors, wiring, even the pipes of your home! Islamabad has become so much unsafe because of these people.... They are occupying a land worth of billions and its not a joke! There are over 36 kachi bastis in islamabad....why cant they go in Rawalpindi? that is something you people should ponder! Think like if someone occupies your plot for years and years and dont even vacate on court notice and say i will stay here because i'm poor, will you people leave? This land belongs to CDA workers and they are more worthy to live in there as compare to these afghans...

Recommend 0

Baligh

Jul 30, 2015 11:24pm

As many as 800 homes demolished which could not have been raised in a day or night. Why did the concerned authorities did not stop these constructions at that time when they were being raised ?

Recommend 0

Raja

Jul 30, 2015 11:24pm

I’m with the authorities on this one. No one has the right to help themselves to any place where they wish to settle. If you allow such trespassers the right to stay, the whole of Islamabad’s green belt will have illegal settlers taking camp. There are colonies in each sector for cleaners etc. The allocation of plots to journalists etc must stop too! Unless you are serving your country on the front lines, no one should be allocated plots of land. Government civil servants and their dependents should be offered subsidised property for the duration of service and the right to buy their property. Confiscation orders for ministers and journalists who have been allocated land should be pushed forward at the same time. You can’t target one set of settlers and not the other.

Recommend 0

Detroit

Jul 30, 2015 11:41pm

@EMAN, not sure how long you lived in nearby Detroit or know any history of the city. Detroit is used to be as sparkling as any other city in the state, until 67 rights between black and white community and clashes resulted in white people fleeing the city and moved to suburb. Even those burnt down houses carry a house no and registered in the city office and further on the map. What you call a Slump a city , current mayor and NGO's working toward master plan to clean up and demolish the damaged buildings. No one can occupy any of those houses or land without buying it from the owner or most of cases since City has lien on it and they own it. Just keeping the record straight since I live myself close to City of Detroit. Go Tiger! Thanks

Recommend 0

Mustafa

Jul 31, 2015 12:25am

Our government should accommodate these people in villages (where land is cheap). We should develop the vast and vacant lands so that the congestion in our cities can also me managed.

Recommend 0

Jawad

Jul 31, 2015 12:25am

@Ustaad it looks so easy from outside, but practically doing it is tough ask

Recommend 0

Waseem

Jul 31, 2015 01:58am

Good job CDA and thank you Islamabad Police. It should continue in other sectors as well. Please keep Islamabad clean from illegal settlements.

Recommend 0

Haneef

Jul 31, 2015 02:17am

Such evacuation is illegal, and against the Katchi Abadi's Law, Pakistan.

Recommend 0

Pak zindabad

Jul 31, 2015 03:56am

Send these afghani illegal immigrants to Afghanistan who are they to interfere in Pakistan development

Recommend 0

Pakistani-Sindhi

Jul 31, 2015 04:25am

It is a bold step and we support it.

Recommend 0

TechnoKraft

Jul 31, 2015 06:35am

Why other illegal establishments were not targeted? They shud also remove the ones in sector F-7 and F-11 / G-11 areas etc. Which are all illegal and unacceptable

Recommend 0

Jainy

Jul 31, 2015 09:58am

@natey this is Pakistan and never expect anything good coming from government or it's departments. The fact is, CDA (Capital Development Authority) was receiving monthly illegal payments from these people for residing there and now when the rates became higher of the area and people started shouting naming these poor and hard working people as terrorists, CDA approached Islamabad High Court for their evacuation from the area. I am not having my own house in Islamabad and can't pay the high rents though am an Engineer but I can't occupy any illegal land to make a small house until I pay some bribe to CDA on monthly basis. There are many small illegal restaurants in various posh areas of the Capital and are all being running by the people paying monthly bribes.

Recommend 0

Our Cities.

Jul 31, 2015 10:44am

Pakistani cities are not planned. They are not documented. There is so much work on all fronts to manage cities, to make things work. There is a huge huge deficit as far as cities are concerned. The above is just one aspect. Pakistan has the capacity but not the political will determination, farsightedness, planning, implementation, resources, political and social oversight, there are a thousand things that make a good city. Pakistan is yet to learn a lot about its people, its cities. Is Islamabad only for the rich, the powerful? Our planners have to know and acknowledge that most people in Pakistan cannot even afford a roof over their heads, this earth belongs to our children and we are trustees not owners. We owe it to our children to have a better life than what we had, and the poor and the homeless need help, not bulldozers.

Recommend 0