The Invisible People of Islamabad

Some people are Invisible. Not because they dont have a body or they are wear a magic cloak, but
because their presence is not recognized. They lack economic and political power and therefore they are
ignored. They are treated as if they dont exist and are totally invisible.
In our personal lives, we come across many of these invisible people throughout the day. We feel their
presence but ignore their existence. For example, every morning, when we enter into our office, we find
the floors clean and sparkling. The floors indicate the presence of someone who cleaned them. But we
dont have enough time to reflect for the rights of the person who made the floors clean. We cant ask
ourselves if the janitor gets enough reward to have basic health facilities for himself and to afford an
education for his children. So, while we feel the presence of a janitor in our office, we refuse to
acknowledge their existence as a human being.
Islamabad is a modern metropolitan city of Pakistan. The city is home of the bureaucratic, political and
economic and social elite of the country. While living in Islamabad, visiting a market or a park, one often
comes across the most visible people; senior bureaucrats, columnists, fashion models and politicians.
These people are surrounded by a number of invisible people. The face of these people is not recognized
and name of these people is not known. But they are there serving the elites round the clock. The invisible
people mop the floors, refuel the cars at gas stations, take care of security as private security guards. We
see them and we pretend as if we havent. We benefit from their services but ignore them as if either they
dont exist or they are invisible to us.
Ignoring the invisible people in personal life may not have much harm. However, what really hurts is when
the powerless remain invisible in the eyes of the state. Ignoring these powerless people in state policy is
not without repercussions. When these people remain invisible to the state, the real problem starts. They
are deprived of a decent education. They are unable to grow. They remain poor generation after
generation. They become hopeless. They find it impossible to bridge their gap with the mainstream society
through fair means. They recourse to violence and unfair methods to growing rich. Much of the unrest in
our society is because many of the invisible people are pressed hard to make both ends meet and arent
given sufficient opportunities to grow.
The state planned to build the new capital for the country in 1960s. The first generation of these invisible
people came to Islamabad, from very deprived areas of the Punjab, as the cheapest labour available. They
lived in tents and worked day and night, years after years, to build this magnificent city. In mid 1970s, a
large number of them lived in G-8/3, where today PIMS is. When the construction of PIMS started, they
were pushed to smaller slums. After completion of construction work in Islamabad, the state still needed
them to keep the city clean and get the dirty job done. So, they were retained in small slums but without
giving enough facilities a decent human would deserve.
The first generation of these slum dwellers was illiterate and unskilled. As they remained invisible in the
policy of the state, their second and third generation also could not do much to improve their education.
A number of them still consider being cleanliness worker as their ultimate fate and education as a
redundant effort.
A little research about these invisible people reveals some interesting but shocking facts. Many of the
invisible people do not come from outside the city. They live here in the capital city, side by side the posh

areas of the elites. Sectors F-6, F-7 and G-8 are just a few to mention. France Colony, Hundred Quarters,
Hansa Colony, Essa Nagri are some of the names of the slums. There are 21 slums in Islamabad where
these invisible people belong to. The slum dwellers are not small in number. Quite shockingly, they
constitute around 30 per cent of the population of Islamabad. The famous quote seems to stand true
here, The rich get richer and the poor get children! No wonder their number is so big.
The situation in the slums of Islamabad does not seem to improve much. Today, there are 10 slums that
are granted land rights. The inhabitants live in small houses with two bedrooms. The area is deprived of
basic utilities. Sewerage water runs open in the streets. If it rains, the drainage system chokes. The areas
give a dilapidated and deplorable look. Men mostly work as taxi drivers and janitors. Women work as
house maids and nurses. The new generation has gradually realized the importance of education but still
many believe that to become a janitor or a taxi driver is their ultimate fate, so why to waste time getting
an education. They continue to live in ghettos of the modern day metropolitan city of Islamabad.
Deprivation and polarization rip the society apart. It breeds crimes and violence related to relative
deprivation. A research report conducted by Islamabad police already indicates that the slums of
Islamabad are a safe abode of pick pockets, thieves and mobile snatchers.
We all know that in the United States of America, where after centuries of segregation and discrimination
against black race, a colored man, named Barack Hussein Obama, became a senator and then a President.
Not only once but twice. Can anyone, from the family of sanitary workers, ever dream to become a senator
in Islamic Republic of Pakistan? If no, our society is clearly not egalitarian yet and each one of us should
raise voice for it.