our agriculture sector. It is ironic that even though coverage of the recent local bodies election in Islamabad recognised that the winners and losers of the election would be decided by how the city’s informal settlements vote, the CDA seems to have no place for them in its vision for the future of the capital city. These ‘ugly villages’, according to the CDA, distort the ‘beauty’ of Islamabad. The CDA also seems to think that regulation only encourages more informal settlements. The last logic is certainly correct, but for a different reason. Where the government has not created any new schemes to house the urban poor, the poor are left with no option but to form informal settlements. The CDA’s reply to the SC weakens its own case by exposing its sheer bigotry. The highest court in the country is doing a good job of forcing the government to take notice of the plight of the shelter-less poor. But whether this will lead to any significant change in the government’s priorities still remains to be seen.
Balochistan has historically suffered from neglect, marginalisation and underdevelopment
It is by now well understood that Modi govt thrives on banning anything that does not align with its Hindu nationalist...
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Militants blew up track, and seized control of Jaffar Express; train was carrying more than 400 passengers
While police insist they have zero-tolerance policy toward vigilante justice, their inaction speaks otherwise