Violent protests erupted in Pakistan’s federal capital this week after civic authorities resumed demolition operations targeting informal settlements, including a predominantly Christian neighborhood, raising concerns among minority rights advocates about the vulnerability of poor Christian communities to forced evictions.
Clashes between residents and officials unfolded on April 13 in the Allama Iqbal Colony, also known as Sharper Colony, when teams from the Capital Development Authority (CDA), accompanied by police, arrived with heavy machinery to demolish what they described as illegal structures. The settlement is home to about 1,300 families, the majority of them Christians working in low-income jobs such as sanitation and domestic labor.
Community leaders said tensions escalated into a five-hour standoff as officials attempted to carry out the operation.
“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,” said Imran Shahzad Sahotra, a local Christian leader.
He added that several homes and small businesses along the colony’s main road had been marked for future demolition, fueling fear among residents who have lived in the area for more than two decades.
“For families who have built these homes with years of hard labor and meager wages, eviction without compensation is devastating,” Sahotra said. “Many have nowhere else to go.”
The CDA has announced plans to clear at least four informal settlements in Islamabad, several of which are largely inhabited by Christians – one of Pakistan’s most marginalized religious minorities. Community leaders say the renewed operations have triggered widespread anxiety, particularly among daily wage earners who lack the financial means to relocate.
Such settlements often provide the only affordable housing option for minority communities, who face economic and social barriers in accessing formal housing markets, Sahotra said, urging the government to either grant ownership rights to long-term residents or provide adequate compensation and alternative housing. “The government must ensure that these families are not rendered homeless,” he said.
A day later, on April 14, similar anti-encroachment operations in the Noorpur Shahan area led to violent clashes between police and Muslim residents. At least eight police officers and several residents were injured as protesters hurled stones and set fire to two official vehicles.
Police responded with tear gas and baton charges to disperse the crowds, after which authorities reportedly demolished an entire neighborhood. Local media reports stated that more than 13,000 homes have been razed in the area over the past six months.
Human rights organizations have condemned the CDA’s operations, warning that they disproportionately impact the urban poor, including religious minorities.
At a meeting convened by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Islamabad on April 13, activists, lawyers and community representatives called on the superior courts to enforce a 2015 Supreme Court stay order that prohibits the forced eviction of informal settlements without due process.
In a statement, the HRCP criticized the CDA’s “anti-poor” approach and failure to provide adequate low-cost housing.
“The CDA has launched only one low-income housing scheme in decades, which accommodates only a fraction of the estimated 500,000 people living in informal settlements in Islamabad,” the statement said.
The HRCP emphasized that, in the absence of sufficient housing alternatives, informal settlements often represent the result of years of labor by working-class families seeking stability and dignity. It warned that ongoing demolition drives risk deepening Pakistan’s housing crisis while leaving already vulnerable communities—such as Christians—at greater risk of displacement.
Rights advocates also noted that Islamabad remains the only major city in Pakistan without a comprehensive legal framework for regularizing informal settlements, a policy widely used internationally to integrate such communities into formal urban planning.
Participants at the HRCP meeting stressed that the right to housing is protected under Article 9 of Pakistan’s Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and dignity. They urged authorities to halt forced evictions, respect court orders, and adopt policies that prioritize resettlement and rehabilitation over demolition.
