ISLAMABAD: Scores of working-class residents and representatives of katchi abadis from across the twin cities gathered in the rural locale of Alipur on Saturday to declare their support to Awami Workers Party (AWP) candidate Iqbal Jahan who is contesting from NA-47 (Islamabad II).

The announcement was made on the basis of AWP’s long history of being the only political party in the federal capital which had consistently opposed evictions of katchi abadis and struggled for basic amenities in working-class neighbourhoods in the face of the anti-poor, elite-centric and ecologically destructive policies propagated by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and mainstream bourgeois politicians.

AWP leader Dr Aasim Sajjad said working class residents of the federal capital were regularly subjected to demolitions of their homes and livelihoods in the name of clearing ‘encroachments’.

“However, rich and powerful land grabbers, including state functionaries, operate with complete impunity, while a katchi abadi resident even has to make under-the-table payments to CDA, Iesco and other government department functionaries for perfectly legitimate matters like installation of electricity and gas meters,” he claimed.

Dr Sajjad said this class apartheid was unacceptable and katchi abadi residents had as much right to the city as property developers and residents of elite neighbourhoods.

“The AWP is fielding bonafide working class candidate Iqbal Jahan to give working-class people as well as youth, women and other oppressed communities a genuine alternative to mainstream parties,” he added.

Iqbal Jahan said there must be a shift in the long-term planning paradigm of the CDA so that working class residents were guaranteed affordable housing, particularly given the huge in-migration that was exacerbating the low-income housing shortage.

He also said that unrestrained construction of big infrastructure and gated housing schemes was destroying the environment of the city, as evidenced by the rising air pollution in recent times. He also urged the importance of catering to students and young professionals living in private hostels who are completely marginalised in the planning and design of city development projects.

Local AWP leader Rukhsana Qazi as well as other leaders of katchi abadis also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2024