In the Shadow of Iran Diplomacy, Pakistan Bulldozes Hundreds of Homes of the Poor
Days after the American delegation left Islamabad, the city administration unhoused more than 200 families.
On the morning of April 14, Sudhir Kiyani was at home in Islamabad’s Noori Bagh neighborhood when officials from the Capital Development Authority (CDA), accompanied by police, knocked on his door. “CDA officials and police officers asked us to move out within the next hour, or they would knock down our house with everything in it,” Kiyani told Zeteo. His family had lived in that house for seven generations.
His wife and 10-year-old son left that morning with nowhere to go. The boy had attended the first day of sixth grade the day before – and has not returned to school since.
Just days earlier, Pakistan had hosted high-stakes talks between the United States and Iran. Delegations arrived alongside international media, many of whom couldn’t resist praising Islamabad’s calm, manicured beauty. Landmarks like the Islamabad Serena Hotel and the Jinnah Convention Center briefly became symbols of the city’s global moment. Since then, Islamabad has remained in the headlines, with expectations of a second round of talks.
But even as the Pakistani capital basked in the diplomatic spotlight, another story was quietly unfolding.