Coats on Their Shoulders, the Cold Shoulder from the State

Key Points:

Maroon-uniformed men seize a street coat seller’s entire stock outside Lyallpur Hosiery Store
Citizens ask what his crime was: no road blocked, no footpath taken, only children to feed
New anti-encroachment force in maroon uniforms recently deployed in Faisalabad bazaars
Corporation removes encroachment inspector Zeeshan Yousaf Khan to General Branch the same day

FAISALABAD: Maroon-uniformed men, employees of the Municipal Corporation Faisalabad, seized every coat three street sellers carried on their shoulder outside a city hosiery shop near the Clock Tower.

The video, filmed outside the Lyallpur Hosiery Store, shows several men in maroon uniforms gathering the seller’s folded coats into stacks. The seller, a shawl over his shoulders and a bag in his hand, stands facing them as the stacks grow.

The footage ends with two of the men walking down the road with the stacks on their shoulders, towards a Municipal Corporation vehicle marked for anti-encroachment duty.

Anti-encroachment personnel take a street seller's coat stock outside Lyallpur Hosiery Store Faisalabad — Personnel in maroon uniforms take stacks of garments from the seller outside the Lyallpur Hosiery Store.

Citizens sharing the video ask what the seller’s crime was. Had he blocked a road, obstructed traffic or taken over a footpath, or was he only earning bread for his children?

According to local journalists, a new anti-encroachment force has recently been raised in Faisalabad. Its personnel have been given maroon uniforms and deployed in the city’s bazaars.

Maroon-uniformed men seize the coat seller’s stock outside Lyallpur Hosiery Store

“Where, then, should the poor go?”

Every new force must show its zeal. The bazaar knows where such zeal is usually displayed.

Citizens say the easiest target is the poor man, who has no recommendation, no power and no voice.

Ali Raza, a visiting faculty member at a public-sector university, says snatching goods from the poor in the name of removing encroachments is clear proof of a double standard.

“The state’s whip falls swiftly only on the weak,” he says. “For the powerful, it is no more than a spider’s web.”

He says a news report he read recently put the number of illegal housing societies in Faisalabad at over 300.

These societies are visible to everyone, he says, and official agencies themselves admit they are illegal. Yet they are merely labelled illegal and left alone. Plots in them are still being sold openly.

The same strict action taken against poor pushcart vendors and labourers should have been taken against the owners of these colonies, he says, so that they could not exploit ordinary people.

“But they are rich,” he says. “They know how to play with the law and how to reach the officers, so they roam free.”

He describes the strong criticism on social media after the action against the poor as highly commendable. It was that reaction, he notes, which moved the Faisalabad corporation’s officers to take immediate notice, act against their own staff and assure that the seized goods would be returned.

There is no dispute that encroachments must end, he says, but the real question is the double standard in dealing with those actually involved in encroachments.

A survey of the city’s bazaars, markets and highways would show permanent encroachments standing at many places, he says. Big brands have placed their generators outside their outlets and occupied even the green belts along the roads.

“Can the agencies running the anti-encroachment operation not see these big people?” he asks. “They see everything. No action is taken because these people have deep links with powerful circles and with officers.”

This double standard must end, he says, because crushing the weak in the name of the law while closing one’s eyes to the rich erodes the public’s trust in the state.

Nobody disputes that encroachments must end and roads must stay clear.

The question the video leaves behind is whether snatching a poor man’s livelihood counts as performance. Where, then, should the poor go?

Accountability came the same day.

The Chief Officer of the Municipal Corporation Faisalabad issued office order GB/CO/1568/MCF on Wednesday, citing public complaints received through social media platforms regarding the official conduct of encroachment inspector Zeeshan Yousaf Khan.

The order directs Khan to report to the corporation’s General Branch with immediate effect.

Municipal Corporation Faisalabad office order GB/CO/1568/MCF dated 11 November 2026 — The Municipal Corporation Faisalabad office order dated 11 November 2026

The Municipal Corporation Faisalabad on its Facebook page claimed that the stock has been given back to the sellers. The matter is being interrogated to avoid such issues in future.

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Author Profile

Saleem Mubarak: Award-winning investigative journalist with 20+ years of experience across Pakistan's leading news organisations, including 15+ years as Senior Staff Correspondent at Dawn. Driven by a lifelong passion for investigative journalism and human rights, with a proven record of hard-hitting stories that forced official action — from hospital negligence and illegal land grabs to harassment probes and social injustice. He is the recipient of the K.C. Kulish International Award for Excellence in Print Journalism.