ISLAMABAD: Surely, the nondescript slum the authorities bulldozed on Monday was a ‘soft target’ for them. But the firmness with which they went after it did raise doubts that they had ‘hard reasons’ to go after it.

Indeed, officials of the Islamabad administration, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and police acknowledge that the slum existed too close to the comfort of a strategic installation in H-10 sector, but none would say so on record.

Doubters of the ‘soft target’ spin noted that the green belt dividing H-10 and I-10 sectors was cleared of all the 2,000 shanties that had stood there for years, within 12 hours of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s outburst at the continued existence of slums in Islamabad which could be hiding terrorists.

CDA spokesman Asim Khichi, however, stuck to his old line.

“It is just that we had been receiving complaints from the female students of the nearby International Islamic University and other residents of the area that the slum made their commuting difficult,” he told Dawn.

“Besides we are in the process of clearing katchi abadis,” he reminded.

However, compared to the other parts of Islamabad, residential areas adjacent to the green belt slum have negligible population.

The only buildings of significance, located about 100 yards from the katchi abadi, house offices of a strategic department.

In I-10, the first structures after the katchi abadi are those of the industrial area.

Civil society advocates of slum dwellers’ rights say no one had any inkling of the upcoming operation.

“That is why neither the slum dwellers nor us had any strategy to foil the eviction,” said Asim Sajjad, senior member All Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis and Awami Workers Party (AWP).

“There is the possibility the sizeable Afghan population in the slum was the cause of security concerns to someone,” said Asim Sajjad.

Sources in the Capital Development Authority recalled that a meeting held in the interior ministry on March 22, the Intelligence Bureau had opposed operations against the katchi abadis, saying it would “invite unwarranted troubles” in the federal capital.

Whether Monday’s operation was the beginning of a campaign by the authorities to clear Islamabad of its scores slum, areas would be known when and where they strike next.

If it happens to be the one in H-11, then that too is too close to the comfort of a defence related organisation.

the three names sent by the committee headed by Ahsan Iqbal and approved the appointment of Prof Ahmed as the HEC chief, he said.

“Although it was the right of the prime minister to reject the candidates for the post, it seemed that he (PM) was initially misguided by some elements due to which he rejected the three names selection by Mr Iqbal,” he said.

An HEC official, on the condition of anonymity, added that because of the appointment of Prof Mukhtar, the post of the executive director had fallen vacant.

“There are two possibilities. Either the post of ED will be advertised again or Dr Zabta Khan Shinwari of the Quaid-i-Azam University will be considered for it.”

Dr Shinwari was on number two of the list prepared for the appointment of ED when Prof Ahmed was made ED in February 2013, he added. However, initially, the acting charge of the post will be given to one of the members of the HEC Commission. There are currently 11 members of the 18-member commission, he said.