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

20 0
17.06.2026

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

https://arab.news/y45rn

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........

© Arab News Pakistan