Forced evictions: Call for implementation of Senate resolution

Katchi Abadis Alliance demands release of activists, dropping of anti-terrorism charges.

ISLAMABAD: Political activists and katchi abadi dwellers on Wednesday demanded implementation of a resolution adopted by the Senate recently on the forced eviction of informal settlement and excessive use of police force against the former dwellers of sector I-11.

Addressing a press conference here at the National Press Club, Chaudhry James of the All Pakistan Katchi Abadis Alliance (APKAA) said that whenever the PML-N government came into power, the homes of the poor and marginalised communities always came under threat.

James appealed to the Supreme Court to hear the slum dwellers’ case and recognize that every citizen has a fundamental right to housing.

Awami Workers Party (AWP) Senior Vice-President Akhtar Hussain Advocate said even the Senate had vindicated the party and alliance’s stance; that action against the I-11 informal settlement was unacceptable and that evictees should be rehabilitated.

Hussain demanded  immediate release of the dozens of prisoners languishing in Adiala Jail and dropping the terrorism charges against them.

A representative of APKAA Sheikh Abdur Rehman said that it was tragic that on the eve of Independence Day, slum residents were being told they have no basic rights.

He said that the people who lived in these settlements were labourers who played a critical role in building the capital city and keeping it running yet they were being pushed into homelessness.

Residents from I-11 slum were also present on the occasion and spoke to the press about the difficulties they were facing in finding alternative accommodation following the brutal eviction operation against them.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2015.