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Police evict I-11 residents. Photo: Awami Workers Party.

Thousands of residents of Sector I-11 informal settlements in Islamabad faced off against armed police and bulldozers of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to prevent them from demolishing their homes on July 27.

The residents of the I-11 settlement were supported by dozens of students and activists of the Awami Workers Party from other parts of Islamabad, including residents of other informal settlements in the city.

Initially, the 20,000 working class residents and their supporters were successful.

“This is a huge victory for the working-class of Islamabad who have been marginalised and mistreated for decades,” Fazal Shah, leader of AWP’s I-11 unit, who works as a fruit seller in the nearby fruit and vegetable market, told the July 27 Pakistan Today. “Although the struggle is far from over, today’s events have proven that when the working masses unite and organise themselves, they can face off against any power. And all we are asking for is the right to live and work in peace in this city.”

On July 30, however, a brutal operation was launched against the I-11 residents. Thousands of police, rangers, intelligence officers and special forces were deployed against unarmed men, women and children. Residents have been badly gassed, baton-charged, shot with rubber bullets, beaten up, kicked off of roofs, and stripped. Despite repeated offers by residents, AWP and others to negotiate on a settlement in accordance with the law, the CDA refused and instead took the option of collective punishment on the poorest segment of Islamabad’s population.

The extent of the repression was such that a 6-day-old child was killed in the melee. Hundreds of people were also injured. Over 80 people have been arrested, including AWP's Hassan Turi, who remains in detention. A staggering 1500 protesters have been charged under the Anti Terrorist Act (ATA). Pakistan's anti-terrorist laws are routinely used against anyone challenging injustice but very rarely used against terrorists.

AWP President Abid Hassan Minto told an August 2 press conference in Islamabad, “we will struggle tirelessly for compensation and resettlement for the almost 20,000 residents of I-11 whose homes have been demolished.”

He said that police were trying to deport the evicted residents to locations distant from the Rawalpindi-Islamabad urban area. “As if the humiliation and trauma of having their homes bulldozed and their relatives manhandled and arrested was not enough, the evictees have been blocked from entering Rawalpindi in the aftermath of the operation. The authorities have even attempted to load some of the evictees onto trucks and ‘send them back’ to their ‘home districts’.”

Minto drew a link between the charging of AWP activists under the anti-terrorist laws and upcoming local elections.

“The AWP had nominated 14 candidates from the I-11 [settlements] for the upcoming Islamabad local government elections. The majority of these candidates have been charged under the ATA, which clearly demonstrates the conscious victimisation of the AWP for its work in organising … residents for their rights. This also indicates a clear attempt to both disenfranchise [the] residents and snatch their democratic rights. The AWP and its candidates will continue to participate in these elections with full force and resist any further attempts at disenfranchising the working poor.”

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