Breakthrough in Talks: CDA Agrees to De-seal Private Hostels, Crackdown Halted After Student Protests

Islamabad: Negotiations between the Students Coordination Committee, the Capital Development Authority (CDA), and the Islamabad administration concluded successfully on Tuesday. It was agreed that all sealed private hostels would be de-sealed immediately and the ongoing crackdown against hostels would be stopped.The parties also decided to hold another round of talks next week involving CDA, Islamabad administration, Higher Education Commission (HEC) officials, and the Students Coordination Committee to work out a permanent solution to the issue.Earlier, thousands of students residing in hostels across Islamabad staged a protest and sit-in outside the National Press Club against the CDA’s operation to shut down hostels in residential areas. The protest was led by student leaders including DaniyalAbdullah, Tabish Hamid, and Shahid Shah.Addressing the gathering, the leaders said that hostel facilities are a basic necessity for non-local students. With over 600,000 students enrolled in Islamabad’s universities — more than 500,000 of them from outside the city — the demand for accommodation is much higher than what universities can provide. This forces students to rely on private hostels.The students strongly criticized the CDA for sealing dozens of hostels over the past month and evicting students late at night, which they said was in violation of Supreme Court directives that ordered no harassment of students until a permanent solution is found.They further argued that if hostels are being categorized as commercial activity, then the same principle should apply to shops, schools, and over 300 illegal housing societies in Islamabad, questioning why only students were being targeted.