housands of Christian residents of the have taken to the streets amid announcements made by authorities to vacate the settlements they have been living in for years.

A few days back, the Capital Development Authority announced plans to demolish four informal settlements.

“Attention! All people occupying the place must leave in three days. Otherwise, their belongings will be thrown out. The houses will be demolished,” a CDA staff member can be seen announcing at the H-9 colony. A video showing him making the announcement is circulating on social media.

The authorities have indicated they plan to soon launch an anti-encroachment operation to demolish the settlements in H-9 Rimsha Colony; G-8 Musharraf Colony and Miskeen Colony; and G-7 Allama Iqbal Colony, also known as Shopper Colony.

Thousands of people have been living in these settlements for years. Christian residents make up a sizeable majority.

Over the past few days, thousands of people have protested against the decision. They have urged the administration to stop the operation or at least provide them with alternative lodgings.

Christian residents of Rimsha Colony have staged some big protest demonstrations. They are calling the directive to vacate the area without offering any alternative shelter “a great injustice.” According to them, the CDA had itself set up Rimsha Colony some 15 years ago. The Shopper Colony was established some 25 years ago.

“We have been living in this colony for 12 years. Many Christian residents moved to this place after a 14-year-old girl Rimsha was accused of committing blasphemy in Mehrabad Colony. We fled after backlash from Muslim hardliners,” Pastor Pitras Joseph told The News on Sunday. He said that was why people had started calling it Rimsha Colony.

He said a government minister had visited the place and allowed these families to settle there until an alternative was worked out.

“This settlement lacks some basic facilities like electricity and gas supply. Still it affords people shelter,” Irfan Bhatti, another resident, said.

In other colonies put on notice by the CDA, electricity and gas connections have been approved by the relevant authorities.

“An 80-year-old woman died from extreme anxiety resulting from the threat to our settlement,” Chaudhry Fayyaz James, a resident of G-7 colony told TNS. “Where should we go?

He said the families had been living in these slums for several decades. The CDA, he said, had no plan for them despite having made promises from time to time. “Now, the CDA is saying they want to develop a Park here,” he said.

“Is a park more important than a shelter for the homeless?” James, who lives with seven other members of his family, asked.

The families of the most of these colonies have been living in various informal settlements for decades. In some cases they were resettled by the CDA itself.

“We have been living in this colony for 12 years. Many Christian families moved to this place after a 14-year-old girl Rimsha was accused of committing blasphemy in Mehrabad Colony. We fled after backlash from Muslim hardliners.”

Most of the G-7 colony residents were earlier living in an informal settlement near Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in G-8. The place was then called Labour Colony. After the PIMS was established, they were moved to another place in G-8. Later many families shifted to G-7 colony and the CDA was aware of the move.

Many settlers of H-9 (Rimsha Colony) had been living near Rawal Dam before they were moved. Some say a minister allowed them to settle in H-9. Later, more families from the Mehrabad settlement shifted there following threats from violent mobs over the blasphemy case. The oldest settlers say the CDA and the government must come up with a comprehensive plan to settle them permanently.

“Our protest will continue. We will not let the CDA go back on its promise of alternative accommodation,” a resident of H-9 colony said. He said he was afraid that forcible eviction might be attempted soon after Ramazan.

In recent weeks the has CDA conducted several eviction operations across Islamabad, bulldozing decades-old houses in squatter settlements like Muslim Colony, Bari Imam.

CDA officials say the land is needed for new development projects and roads.

“We cannot fight with the authorities. We can only appeal for sympathy. Give us an alternative place,” Bhatti says. “Else, we will become homeless.”

The protesters claim that these settlements have long been acknowledged by multiple state institutions.

The National Database and Registration Authority and the Election Commission of Pakistan recognise these settlements as permanent residential addresses. Electricity and gas supply companies have installed infrastructure in our neighborhoods. Even the CDA has constructed parks, roads and commercial facilities in nearby areas. These facts clearly demonstrate that the colonies have been formally recognised and administratively facilitated, the affected people say.

The civil society and some political parties have raised their voice for the affected families. The Awami Workers Party has demanded an immediate end to the harassment of katchi abadi dwellers across the federal capital. It says the desired eviction is “in complete contravention of the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the National Housing Policy 2025.”

The AWP has called for the federal government to issue a clear rebuke to the CDA and the Islamabad Capital Territory crews that are spreading fear across the capital’s standing katchi abadis. It is also demanding compensation for the thousands of residents of Muslim Colony Bari Imam who have been forcibly evicted from their homes.

“Forcibly displacing the residents without resettlement would be injustice,” Nayyar Bukhari, a Pakistan Peoples Party leader says. He says hundreds of families have already been rendered homeless through the demolition of informal settlements in the Bari Imam area.

Human Right Commission of Pakistan has expressed concern on this situation, saying these neighborhoods have long been home to nearly 25,000 people, primarily Christians, who were relocated here by the CDA in the early 2010s, following false blasphemy allegations against 14-year-old Rimsha Masih in view of the threat to these communities.

“We urgently call on the prime minister, the law minister, the interior minister and the religious affairs minister to take notice of these imminent evictions,” the HRCP stated, adding that the CDA must halt all eviction plans until guaranteed resettlement is ensured in line with law and international human rights obligations.

The author is a staff reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].