Conference in Islamabad calls for halt to slum demolitions

ISLAMABAD: Political parties, civil society groups, intellectuals, lawyers and residents on Wednesday voiced support for people living in Islamabad’s informal settlements who are facing eviction, and called on the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to stop demolition operations immediately.

The demand was made at the Haq-i-Rehaish conference organised by the Awami Workers Party (AWP) at the National Press Club. Representatives from katchi abadis that have recently been demolished, including Muslim Colony in Bari Imam, as well as settlements said to be under threat such as Rimsha Colony in H-9 and Allama Iqbal Colony in G-7, attended the event.

Speakers at the conference said the CDA should respect what they described as the constitutional right to housing. They also urged the superior judiciary to step in for the protection of low-income residents, referring to a Supreme Court stay order that, according to the speakers, has remained in place since 2015.

Appeal for court intervention

AWP leaders said their position had been upheld by the Supreme Court in 2015 after the large-scale eviction of the I-11 katchi abadi. According to them, the court had directed the CDA to revise its planning priorities and had also ordered a moratorium on summary evictions. They said the civic agency was continuing to act in violation of that order.

Umer Bangash of Muslim Colony Bari Imam spoke about what he described as the demolition of the settlement in December 2025. He said the operation was carried out despite the Supreme Court stay order and alleged that CDA teams and Islamabad Capital Territory police personnel ignored it. He said that 25,000 residents of Muslim Colony, whose forefathers built Islamabad’s building with their own hands, are now living from hand to mouth, waiting for some kind of justice.

Residents describe threat of eviction

Fayyaz James from Allama Iqbal Colony G-7 said residents there had been living under the threat of displacement for several weeks. He said that the 4,000 residents of the katchi abadi have the sword of eviction hanging over their heads for many weeks, with bulldozers standing ready next to their homes.

Waris Lal of Rimsha Colony in H-9 said the settlement was Islamabad’s largest katchi abadi and was home to persecuted Christians. He said the CDA itself had settled the community there in 2012, but that their rights were now being treated as less important than the construction of the 10th Avenue highway.

The conference brought together political activists, members of the legal community, civil society representatives and ordinary citizens, all of whom expressed solidarity with residents of the affected settlements. The participants demanded an end to ongoing demolition drives and called for the protection of residents facing imminent eviction.

The event focused on settlements that have already been razed as well as those that residents say remain at risk, with speakers repeatedly asking the authorities to halt operations and comply with the court order cited at the gathering.