ISLAMABAD – Government of Pakistan on Thursday finally took action against illegal slums in the capita city, Islamabad’s I-11 sector, TheNewsTribe.com reported.
Capital Development Authority (CDA) alongwith Police and Rangers carrying out the operation against the illegal slums in I-11.
Earlier, local administration has blocked the roads of I-11 for any kind of traffic.
According to the officials of CDA, 800 slums to be demolished in ongoing operation. District Commissioner of Islamabad told that Police is not authorized to use arms.
He also said that several evacuation notices were served to residents.
According to TheNewsTribe.com’s correspondent from Islamabad, Hundreds of mud houses line up over the I/11 expanse, which is said to be one of the largest slum areas in the capital city of Pakistan.
Conflation of Afghanistan’s Pakhtun people with those living in Pakistan has helped the area earn the ‘Afghan Basti’ moniker from the CDA. However, people that live there say that none of them are Afghans at all.
The All Pakistan Kachi Abadi Alliance estimates that over 2,000 families live in the area which houses between 20,000-25,000 people, approximately.
Warning / Public Notice CDA Islamabad
Capital Development Authority (CDA) Islamabad in launching a grand operation for removal of Kachi Abadis in Islamabad. In the first phase action will be taken against the illegal Afghan Basti of Sector I-11/1 and I-11/4 which has been established by occupying CDA acquired land consisting of 487 allowtted plots.Therefore, illegal residents of Afghan Basti located at Sector I-11/1 and I-11/4 are hereby informed through this notice under Section 49-A and 49-C of CDA ordiance 1960 to vacate this abadi and abandon Government land themselves to escape any legal action or loss, otherwise they will responsible themselves for their loss.
Contrary to the CDA’s assertions, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) believes there are no documented Afghans in the I/11 area.
Communication and Public Information Officer, Duniya Aslam Khan shed some light on the matter. “The Afghan basti is not in I/11, it’s in I/12. They were moved in 2009 – not by UNHCR, we had requested the government of Pakistan to find a site for the Afghans to be moved to. Before 2009 they were living in F-10 and surrounding areas,” she said.
“The CDA wanted them to vacate the area so the UNHCR facilitated their relocation from F-10 to I/12. Around 5,000 registered refugees are in that area. On the other hand, in I/11 you have IDPs but UNHCR is not working with IDPs or anyone else in that area,” she explained and added that while the I/12 area is not officially recognized as a camp, but it is a recognized refugee settlement.
“People often confuse the IDPS and Pakhtuns with the Afghans in the I/11 area, which is not correct,” she added.
Deliberately conflating the Afghani Pakhtuns with the Pakistani Pakhtuns is what has earned people in these areas their predicament. Many of them hail from not across the border but places like Charsadda, Mardan, Peshwar, Bajaur and Mohmand Agency, along with many other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
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