Pakistan: Protests errupt as demolition in Islamabad targets Christian neighbourhoods

Islamabad, April 17 Protests have errupted in Pakistan's Islamabad after civic authorities again launched demolition operations targetting informal settlements, including a predominantly Christian neighbourhood, even as various human rights groups criticised the action, a report has stated.

Clashes between residents and officials took place in the Allama Iqbal Colony, also known as Sharper Colony, earlier this week when teams from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and police reached the spot with heavy machinery to demolish what they described as illegal structures, Christian Daily International reported.

About 1,300 families, with majority of them Christians working in low-income jobs such as sanitation and domestic labour, live in the settlement. Community leaders said tensions escalated into a five-hour standoff as officials tried to conduct the operation.

Shahzad Sahotra, a local Christian leader, said, "The government teams sealed a scrapyard, broke locks of several Christian homes, and dragged household belongings into the street before they were forced to withdraw due to strong resistance."

He mentioned that several homes and small businesses along the colony's main road have been marked for future demolition, sparking fear among residents who have lived in the area for more than 20 years.

Sahotra said, "For families who have built these homes with years of hard labour and meagre wages, eviction without compensation is devastating." He added, "Many have nowhere else to go."

The CDA has announced plans to clear at least four informal settlements in Islamabad. Among them, several of the neighbourhoods have Christians as residents.

Community leaders stated that the resumption of operation has caused fear and anxiety among people, particularly daily wage earners who do not have financial means to settle in a different place, Christian Daily International reported. Sahotra stated that such settlements often provide the only affordable housing option for minorities in Pakistan, who face social and economic barriers in accessing formal housing markets.

On April 14, violent clashes erupted between Muslim residents and police after similar anti-encroachment operations were launched in the Noorpur Shahan area. At least eight police personnel and several residents were injured as protesters threw stones at law enforcement personnel and set fire to two official vehicles.

Police used tear gas and baton charges to disperse the crowds, after which authorities reportedly demolished an entire neighbourhood. According to local media reports, over 13,000 homes have been razed in the area over the past six months.

Human rights groups have criticised CDA's operations, stressing that they disproportionately affect the urban poor, including religious minorities.

During a meeting convened by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Islamabad on April 13, activists, lawyers and community representatives requested superior courts to implement a 2015 Supreme Court stay order that bans the forced eviction of informal settlements without due process. The HRCP termed the CDA's approach "anti-poor" and criticised authorities' inability to give adequate low-cost housing to people.

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