April 15, 2026
Hafiz ullah Storai Sherani
ISLAMABAD
Despite protests and pleas to stop the drive against katchi abadis, the Bari Imam settlement has now been reduced to the ground following a massive demolition drive. Where houses once stood, and the neighbourhood was alive with people, now only rubble and dust have been left behind. The place looks like a war zone and the weeping residents seems to belong in a funeral.
One of these is Rahila, who lived here. She was seen weeping inconsolably amidst the ruins.
“O Allah! There are no courts here; You be the Judge,” she cried. Speaking to Voicepk she said she lived here with her sister, and her ailing mother.
“Our father passed away 13 years ago,” she wept. “I work wherever I can find labor, and every penny I earned was spent on this house. Now we see it demolished before our eyes. We don’t even have the means to transport our belongings. Where and how will we build another home?”
Rahila’s soul has been crushed by the loss. With no roof over their heads, she sees no ray of hope in the near future.
Another woman who lost her home also lamented about the situation.
“I have neither father nor brother to rely on, nor a government job to fall back on,” she said. “Whatever I earned through hard labor was spent building this roof, but now, even this home is gone.”
For too many of the residents there is no plan for the days ahead.
Rendering them homeless
The incident took place on Tuesday, with the Capital Development Authority (CDA), supported by police and other relevant agencies, that ended up clearing thousands of homes in and around Bari Imam locality. Whether residents could retrieve their belongings or not, CDA officials reportedly dragged items out before bulldozers leveled the structures.
Videos circulating on social media show intense clashes between local residents and law enforcement, with reports of several injuries, arrests, and protesters setting CDA and police vehicles on fire. However, authorities have yet to officially confirm or deny these incidents.
According to a recent survey by the Awami Workers Party (AWP), approximately 19 percent of Islamabad’s population of roughly 450,000 people resides in over three dozen katchi abadis (informal settlements). To date, the CDA has regularized only 10 of these settlements, though even there, residents remain dissatisfied with government management.
When approached for a statement on-site, CDA officials and police refused to comment, stating they were not authorized to speak to the media. Repeated attempts to reach CDA spokesperson Shahid Kiani via mobile and WhatsApp also went unanswered.
Malik Hashim, a WAPDA official returning from the site, confirmed the scale of the destruction and the resulting tension to Voicepk. “I cannot confirm the exact number of injuries, but approximately half of Bari Imam has been demolished so far. The CDA is tearing down homes, and people are desperately trying to save what is theirs,” he said.
Clamping down media coverage
During the operation, CDA and police personnel attempted to prevent media coverage, suggesting that recordings should only be made after the operation was concluded.
When confronted, an officer on-site challeneged, “Who is greater? The State or its people?”
Journalist Sidra Dar was also present at the scene, and informed Voicepk that she had also been forcibly removed from the operation area. She stated that the authorities actively obstructed her from covering the incident.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has issued an urgent call for the regularization of informal settlements. Citing the Supreme Court’s 2015 stay order against summary evictions, the HRCP demanded an immediate halt to forced displacements, emphasizing the constitutional right to housing for all citizens.
As the dust settles over Bari Imam, the ruins are a silent witness to a growing divide between administrative mandates and the fundamental rights of the urban poor.
Civil society
Meanwhile the Awami Workers’ Party has repeatedly voiced their condemnation of the move by the government to raze people’s homes in this manner.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also called out the move.
At a meeting convened by HRCP in Islamabad, activists, lawyers, political workers and citizens urged superior court judges to uphold the Supreme Court’s 2015 stay order against summary evictions of katchi abadis, safeguarding the constitutional right to housing for the urban poor. The call comes amid an ongoing demolition drive by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), targeting Muslim and Christian settlements and historic villages including Saidpur, Malpur and Nurpur Shahan.
HRCP and allied organisations, including the All-Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis, National Commission for Justice and Peace, Awami Workers Party, Aurat March Islamabad and others, criticised the CDA’s anti-poor approach and failure to provide adequate low-cost housing, noting that only one limited scheme has been launched in the city since 2000, despite a katchi abadi population of around 500,000. They demanded that informal settlements be recognised and regularised, warning that demolitions deepen the housing crisis. Emphasising that housing is a fundamental right under Article 9, they called for an end to forced evictions, respect for court orders, and due process in all cases.
The next hearing of the Katchi Abadi Case in the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) will take place on Thursday at 9:00 am. The AWP said that they would be mobilizing residents of the bastis, civil society organizations, journalists, lawyers, and others to show up at the hearing.