The residents of Noorpur Shahan Bari Imam have launched a fresh appeal to the Capital Development Authority (CDA), demanding immediate action on long-pending promises for their rehabilitation. This call comes in the wake of a significant judgment from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that has bolstered their case.
Court Judgment Revives Decades-Old Promise
The Noorpur Shahan Community Development Organization has formally requested the CDA chairman to implement longstanding board decisions for developing a Model Village. This plea is grounded in a recent IHC verdict. The court, in its judgment on June 26, 2025, in Writ Petition No. 4026/2020 (Tanvir Husain vs CDA), explicitly endorsed the rehabilitation of affected families in Noorpur Shahan through the creation of a Model Village.
The community's struggle dates back to the 1960s when their land was acquired. The organization points out that over 17,000 kanals of land in Noorpur Shahan Bari Imam were acquired under four separate land acquisition awards announced in 1961, 1963, 1964, and 1967 under the CDA Ordinance, 1960. They argue this process was "martial-law driven" and lacked proper public representation to protect local rights.
Historic Commitments and Broken Promises
Citing the CDA's own land acquisition award from September 8, 1964, the organization highlights that the award guaranteed rehabilitation rights. It approved the "provision of rehabilitation facilities under a proper scheme for all the displaced persons of Islamabad." Despite this legal obligation, the authority has made no tangible progress on the approved rehabilitation scheme for the Noorpur Shahan affectees over the past several decades.
The correspondence also recalls a major protest by residents in 1972, which included a five-day hunger strike and a protest procession on May 29 of that year. Following this agitation, the CDA Board addressed the matter in a meeting on June 9, 1972. The board decided to freeze the extension of Saidpur and Noorpur Shahan, allowing only families associated with the shrine's caretakers to remain.
A Final Push for Justice and Rehabilitation
The organization contends that despite these clear commitments and repeated assurances, rehabilitation measures have never materialized. The recent IHC ruling has now provided a powerful legal basis for their demand, compelling residents to seek enforcement of the CDA's own historic decisions.
The applicants have urgently called on the authority to immediately initiate work on the Model Village. This action is crucial to ensure the rehabilitation of displaced families from Noorpur Shahan, in strict accordance with both the court's directions and the CDA Board's past resolutions. The community awaits concrete steps from the CDA to finally turn these promises into reality.
