I was covering evictions. Then came the knock on my door

It was close to 11pm when I finally went to sleep that evening. My team had released a short video on Pakistan’s Capital Development Authority, or CDA, evicting residents from an area where they say they had lived for generations. Yet only a few hours later, I would be woken in the middle of the night, facing an eviction that on paper would appear the same but instead served as a window into the injustices and inequalities so pervasive in Pakistan.

I had returned to Islamabad in early April to cover the Islamabad talks and more broadly Pakistan’s newfound diplomatic stature in mediating between the United States and Iran. I needed a last-minute rental not the easiest thing to find in the capital, as anyone who has lived there will attest. After some frantic searching, I settled on One Constitution Avenue, or OCA. The soaring two-block tower is considered one of the most exclusive residences in the city, with claims that several prominent ministers and even a Prime Minister have owned apartments there.

It is also a building that has been controversial from its inception. The CDA leased the land to a developer in 2005 to construct a five-star hotel, but plans were soon amended and luxury serviced apartments were built and sold off unit by unit, leading to a long-standing legal battle between the developer and the CDA.

The government claims both areas are being illegally occupied. But only one set of residents has the power and resources to contest that claim and continue living comfortably. The other set, their homes reduced to dust and rubble.

- Sara Iram Gill

That battle came to a head on the last day of April.

At around half past midnight, the doorbell rang. Then it rang again. And again. Within moments the ringing had become a pounding at the door. Then came the shouting: men outside my flat, ordering me to come out.

Confused and frightened, I called my building manager. He didn’t answer. I called again, with the same urgency as the pounding on my door. Eventually he texted to say his phone was being inundated with calls, that the authorities had taken over the premises, and that we must all leave. I did not open the door.

The men outside eventually tired and moved on. Soon after, two friends and colleagues arrived, but by then the security cameras had been switched off, the electricity cut in parts of the building and the elevators were no longer working. When they finally reached my flat they described being shocked by the scale of force surrounding the complex; hundreds of police officers, army personnel and troopers. Even for two Islamabad residents, it seemed excessive.

Almost immediately, we spoke about the irony of it all. Only hours earlier we had reported on people being forced from their homes. Now here I was, behind my own door, being told to leave mine. Even shaken as I was, I knew the difference. I had people to call. I had somewhere to go if all else failed. That is a privilege not everyone has.

The panic and confusion lasted just a few days. Today, people still live in the towers, and the precise details of what happens next may take weeks, months, perhaps even years to resolve. That same time was not afforded to those who live in Bari Imam or Muslim Colony, an area that directly overlooks OCA.

A demolition drive has been underway since late November, with the CDA clearing the land for development. We interviewed a woman who had lived in Bari Imam for more than 25 years. She had no family nearby and was about to begin chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer.

Where does she go? Who is to care for her, if not the state that has rendered her homeless?

What happened at OCA was headline news in Pakistan for a few days. Only then was the plight of those in nearby settlements brought into the conversation — people who had been facing evictions for months. By the time this piece is published, the national news will likely be filled once again with hopes of an Islamabad-brokered peace deal between the US and Iran, a war this government hopes to end, while seemingly ignoring the many battles of class and privilege that divide its own society.

The government claims both areas are being illegally occupied. But only one set of residents has the power and resources to contest that claim and continue living comfortably.

The other set, their homes reduced to dust and rubble.

- Sara Iram Gill is an international journalist and reporter whose work focuses on amplifying voices from underreported regions and marginalized communities.