Pakistan's capital declares war on illegal slums

The authorities in Pakistan's leafy, affluent capital have declared war on the slums, largely populated by Christians and Afghan refugees, saying they are illegal while offering no compensation to evicted residents (Duration 02:01)

Published

3 months ago

Topics

Politics & Government

Places

Pakistan, Islamabad

Transcript

SCRIPT: It may have not been much but this was once Mirjan’s house. Like others in this Islamabad slum her home was pulled down on government orders. SOUNDBITE 1 - Mirjan (woman), Slum resident (Urdu, 15 sec) : "The municipal authorities have treated us with cruelty. Poor people are living here. There are no terrorists, no robbers and no bad people living here. They crushed us as we are poor people." There are more than 20 such slums in the Pakistani capital - housing mostly Christians and Afghan refugees. These shanty towns started to develop in the 1960s in the shadow of Islamabad’s plush neighbourhoods. And now the authorities want to clear at least 14 of them. SOUNDBITE 2 - Aasim Sajjad (man), President of the Pakistan Slum alliance (English, 10 sec) : "These are working class populations, they are the one who makes this city run, they are the construction workers, they are the drivers, they are the cooks, in the case of the Christians they are mostly the cleaners.” For the state it’s simple – the slums are illegal, the residents pay no rent and must – therefore – be moved on. SOUNDBITE 3 - Shaista Sohail (woman), Capital Development Authority (English, 15 sec) : "We just want to introduce a new culture. They need to move to rented accommodation. They are in the suburbs of Islamabad you can hire homes for up to 3.000 or 5.000 rupees a month." 5000 rupees is worth around 50 dollars – too big a sum for many of these people who struggle to make the equivalent of 100 dollars a month. But they know they’re powerless if the authorities come knocking on their door. SONORE 4 - Youssaf Masih Bhatti (man), Pastor (English, 12 sec) : "I have no Kalashnikov, no pistol, no firing, but peace, I hope to Jesus they will never come here. There’s no compensation or rehousing plan for the slum residents – and many have been reduced to selling the bricks of their own houses to tide them over until tomorrow – at least. SHOTLIST: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN, APRIL, 2014 (SOURCE : AFPTV) - VAR remains of the h-11 shanty town - VAR MirJan SOUNDBITE 1 - VAR Christian residents of the G-7 slum SOUNDBITE 2 - Small child -VAR bulldozers in H-11 slum SOUNDBITE 3 - VAR Church service in G-7 slum SOUNDBITE 4 -VAR bulldozers in H-11 slum - VAR people gathering bricks /// ----------------------------------------------------- AFP TEXT: Pakistani capital cracks down on illegal slums / Islamabad (Pakistan) - 22 April 2014 Wrapped in a purple shawl, Mirjan wanders downcast among the ruins of the Islamabad slum where she lived, newly demolished. The authorities in Pakistan's leafy, affluent capital have declared war on the slums, largely populated by Christians and Afghan refugees, saying they are illegal and havens for militants. The bulldozers came for Mirjan's slum by a railway line in the city's south last Monday, transforming hundreds of shacks into a sea of rubble. The 70-year-old, with grey hair and pale blue eyes, saw the city's Capital Development Authority (CDA) demolish her meagre world in a matter of minutes. "I have been living here for the past 40 years. The CDA has completely ruined me. I am a widow, my husband died 20 years ago, my two elder sons also died," she told AFP, stifling sobs. "I am a poor woman -- why did the CDA not listen to me?" More than two dozen slums, known as "katchi abadis" in Urdu and often euphemistically called "colonies", are tucked into the corners of Islamabad's neat grid pattern. They house tens of thousands of people unable to afford the city's high rents, in flimsy dwellings put up with concrete, bricks and sacking. Some are located on drainage cuts designed to channel away the heavy rains of the monsoon, and many have no access to electricity, gas or mains water supplies. The CDA, the city's administration, has now drawn up a list of 14 such settlements it says are illegal and plans to clear -- with no compensation or rehousing plan for the residents. The demolition of Mirjan's slum came after a bombing at a nearby fruit and vegetable market killed 22 people -- the deadliest attack in Islamabad since 2008. - 'They make this city run' - Pervaiz Masih, who lives in a Christian slum, says the community is frightened. "We have no land or other property to move to, we cannot build houses even if the government gives us land as we have no money," Masih told AFP, tears rolling down his cheeks. "This locality was not built overnight. If it is illegal, why did CDA officials not stop the people when they started building?" he said, accusing officials of taking bribes to let the settlement stay. Aasim Sajjad, chairman of the All Pakistan Katchi Abadi Alliance, said the city's elite enjoy a cossetted life waited on by maids, cooks and chauffeurs drawn from the ranks of the slum-dwellers. "These are working class populations, they are the ones who make this city run, the construction workers, the drivers, the cooks, in the case of the Christians they are mostly the cleaners," he said. "Let's say you clear all these settlements. In about a month they'll be up in various forms again because these people are not going to disappear -- they are going to live somewhere." That somewhere is the suburbs, where properties can be rented for 3,000 to 5,000 rupees ($30-50) a month, according to Shaista Sohail, a senior official with the CDA. Not a huge sum by some standards, but substantial enough in a country where low-skilled workers earn as little as $100 a month, which must also pay for transport. Anger at the CDA is starting to brew in the slums -- demonstrations have been held to try to stop the bulldozers. "I have no Kalashnikov, no pistol, we are peaceful, I hope to Jesus they will never come here," said Youssaf Masih Bhatti, the pastor of one Christian community. And if the bulldozers do come, said Pervaiz, "if they say they will crush us, we will stand in front of them". gl-wb/pdw/jom