JAC condemns brutal action for removal of Katchi Abadis in Islamabad

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the civil society organisations has vehemently condemned the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) action to remove Katchi Abadi in a crude way by using Islamabad police and other law enforcement agencies which resorted to violence on residents by using tear-gas shelling, baton charges and arrest of the resistance during a two-day action on July 30 and 31.

In a statement on Sunday, the JAC demanded of the federal government to constitute a judicial commission to probe into this inhuman action by the CDA in Afghan Basti Katchi Abadi in Sector I-11.

It is a constitutional obligation of the state to provide shelter to every citizen, but Pakistani state has miserably failed to provide this fundamental right to its citizens, the statement said, adding these people of Katchi Abadi, mostly Pakistani citizens, had been living at the place for many decades.

The CDA must have given a notice, an alternate place to live and mutually agreed compensation money to the residents of Afghani Basti for vacating the place. It crude method by using force and heavy machinery to demolish the mud houses in a civilized country and the government should behave like a democratic and cultured manner, it demanded.

“We demand the government to constitute a judicial commission to investigate and action should be taken against the responsible CDA officials,” the statement concluded.