Lyari – Swat of Sindh

ZoneAsia-Pk

To the oldest locality of Pakistan’s largest city, violence and illegal activities is not new. Lyari saw its first well known gangster back in 1960s. Gangs were typically involved in drug smuggling, bootlegging and other street crimes. The situation took a turn for the worse in the 1980s when weapons and arms began to enter Pakistan through the anti-soviet war in Afghanistan.

Two of the largest and widely known gangs of Lyari are Arshad Pappu’s Gang and Rehman Daicait’s Gang. They once used to be on the same side but a conflict over profits caused Rehman and Haji Lalu, Arshad Pappu’s father, to split. This was a great setback for Lalu as Rehman took his supporters and contacts with him to form the Peoples Amn Committee in 2009.

The latest operation in Lyari was prompted by the murder of a Pakistan People’s party (PPP) leader, Malik Mohammad Khan a week ago.  The continuous state of insecurity has brought life to a standstill. Basic amenities of life like water, gas, electricity are not available. Meager food supplies and high  resistance against relief packages are a constant source of worry for the residents.  Exceptions for medical aid are not even made. It is reported that Edhi ambulances are forbidden from entering the zone in case their Baluch- ethnic drivers assist the criminals.

The violence stemming from gang wars has swollen to such great proportions that law enforcers are finding it difficult to quell the unrest. These gangsters have been using sophisticated weapons including rocket propelled grenades and some of their local inventions like the Awan, a combination of a grenade and a rocket launcher.  The police have returned fire by their Armored Personnel Carriers, which some believe are of little help as they frequently break down, are too large for the narrow lanes in Lyari and are not bullet proof. Other techniques like blocking mobile services in the area have also been used to disadvantage the criminals. But since they use walkie-talkies the only disadvantaged party are the common people who cannot communicate with each other.  Although rangers and paramilitary forces have been called to reinforce the operation, the deteriorating living conditions have forced many families to abandon their homes for safer neighborhoods.

The situation is not merely of a group of gangs involved in unlawful activities. The gangs themselves are struggling to control internal conflicts. One of the most notorious gangs, People’s Amn Committee, has witnessed a race amongst successors for its leadership. Rauf Baluch, who previously served as an advisor to  Rehman and his brother, was accused of tipping the police about the latter’s whereabouts in order to accede to his position. Rehman’s cousin, Akram Baluch was also interested in becoming the leader but his efforts were in vain. The gang is currently being lead by Uzair Baluch, who has not been as successful at uniting the gang’s members as Rehman was able to. CID reports claim that over 450 lives have been lost in the past 4 years from intra-gang conflicts. The death toll is even higher for disputes amongst  gangs like the Ghaffar Zikri gang, Faizu Dada gang, Rauf Baloch gang and Amjad Lashari gang.

What makes these rivalries even worse is political interference. Lyari is popularly known as the hub of PPP support. Party leaders like Nabeel Gabol and Rafiq Engineer have won through this constituency. In fact, PPP has won every election it has contested in Lyari since 1970 till 2008. It has kept a steady relationship with local gangs particularly the People’s Amn Committee. The gang’s leader, Uzair baluch, was reportedly appointed by PPP. Zulfikar Mirza,senior leader of PPP  has patronized Uzair baluch and Zafar baluch while Gabol has been on record for holding  a meeting with Uzair Baluch as recent as one to one and a half year ago. So one wonders what transpired between the two organizations that caused Gabol to accuse PAC for Malik Khan’s murder.

Some security analysts hold political parties responsible for the creation and development of militancy in gangs. PPP’s support to the Amn Committee is countered by MQM’s support to Arshad Pappu’s Gang and the Kutchi Community. Zafar Baluch recently attested to the fact that PPP armed the locals with weapons to aid their political rallies especially against MQM. These weapons are now allegedly being used against law enforcers. Both parties deny any involvement.

According to the Amn committee their rift with the PPP came about when the latter refused to help them in acquiring employment and achieving better living standards. Others believe the real reason to be the forced closure of the gang’s drug havens which affected their incomes. PPP leaders deny any involvement in illicit activities and pledge to stop all kind of criminals in the city.

The ethnic dimension of the violence is too distant an issue. The Baluch political parties have protested against the biased operation in Lyari which are targeting their community. They feel betrayed by the government for whom they voted for in the past. Protests have been carried out at various location like Nishter Road, PIB Colony and Malir. Shops were closed, roads were blocked, tires and effigies of PPP leaders were burned. But the Baluch Liberation Army’s (BLA) literature seized from some of Lyari’s gang members tells another story. The police believe BLA is using the help of Lyari gangs for their insurgency operations.

Law enforcement agencies are not free from allegations and scandals either. Numerous reports have been heard about the gradual success of police forces in securing parts of Lyari but many have been found to be an exaggeration. The efficacy of the police forces is questionable when about 15000 forces are deployed to take down only  few hundred  criminals. If gangsters are being caught and killed, the level of violence has not assuaged and neither has the public been given any proof of the  convicted or killed criminals. There are rumors which claim the police has joined forces with Arshad Pappu’s gang to take down members of the Amn Committee. At the same time, the weapons confiscated by the police are said to have vanished implying some underground deal. Many cases of corrupt actions have been heard against Chaudhry Aslam, the face of the law enforcement forces in Lyari. Some believe he yields more power than IG Sindh.

The situation in Lyari should be an eye opener for the government which at the moment is engrossed with new provinces and the fate of a convicted prime minister. Internal discontent is not intrinsic to Pakistan but the repetitive unwavering violence in Lyari should be taken seriously.

Irrespective of who is responsible in Lyari, the public is witnessing a change in their mood and probably loyalties. The well known hub of PPP may no longer be in the clutches of PPP. Extremely vocal and visible dissatisfaction has been shown regarding their leaders. The ruling party is already cornered on all fronts by the nation’s troubled economy, security and foreign policy situation. Internal divisions in the heart of its province may be the last blow for PPP.

More importantly, the perseverance of criminals and non-state actors to influence the state is dangerous. The ease with which internal peace can be disrupted makes Pakistan a prey to all kinds of possible schisms. The unlimited provision of warfare to criminals is already a sign of how much our unity has been eroded.

At the face of it Lyari’s grievances seem very simple- the right of employment, basic amenities and safety. Achieving these goals is not hard if the rulers and leaders of all the involved parties agree to put the interests of the public before their own interests. For the time being however, the unabated killings and siege in Lyari has to stop. The army has been quite adept at handling the violence in Karachi in the 1990s and more recently in Swat. A strong hand is needed to halt this violence but an even stronger will on the part of all political and social leaders is needed for sustainable peace.

Hand over Karachi to the Army Now

By Saeed Qureshi

The law and order situation and social peace, which was already precarious in Karachi, now with the target killing of GEO reporter Wali Khan Babar, has reached a saturation point. In addition to this deliberate brutal murder, several other citizens were also murdered today. The lives of these slain citizens are as precious as those of the prime minister and president of Pakistan

The GEO’s Ace and promising youthful reporter was known for his valor, deep dedication and passion for journalistic profession and hard work. He was merely 28 and was yet to see many springs in his life. His life was cut short by death squads rampaging and targeting the opponents and all and sundry at their own bidding without check.

A volatile province whose interior minister has the audacity to publically claim that “we are creating all this mayhem” and still remains in the high office because he is a close friend of the head of the state of Pakistan. It is a brazen slap on the face of the civil society. How can he be serious about maintaining peace and curb proliferating lawlessness when he claims to be one of those shooting at random?

The government in power, like other burning issues, has kept this most pressing and endemic issue of restoring order and peace in Karachi on the back burner. It has been stalling to seize this overly critical problem because its own stalwarts are part of the gang wars now spreading like a prairie fire. It is easy to issue condolence messages on the spur of the moment and forget the follow up actions when the heat and inflamed passions settle down.

The restoration of societal peace in Karachi is of paramount importance for its being the largest city and also the lifeline and jugular vein for the economy of the entire country. If its economy is choked and business activities, industries and port are either closed or run by fits and starts, then Pakistan is heading towards a total economic collapse.

The government is reluctant to hand over the task of restoring peace in Karachi to the army under the fear that it would pave way for the army’s take over. It would also be perceived as the government’s failure to provide safety and security to the life and property and other activities to the people of Pakistan. This is pure treachery and reprehensible self interest and a sordid bid for survival in power at an unforgivable cost of the unremitting orgy of blood of the citizens of Pakistan.

Even a child knows that Karachi has become a battlefield of the ethnic war being fought between three distinct communities, Muhajirs, the Pathans and the other fringe segments such as Punjabis, Baluchis and radical religious militants. The immigrants whose majority is illegal play their part by stoking the violence as paid agents. However, the main confrontation is between the Muhajirs and Pathans.

Muhajirs who came to Pakistan after partition of India in 1947and mostly settled in Karachi. The Pathans mostly economic workers came to Karachi for jobs and to earn a living. Initially they were peaceful. But later as a result of the Afghan civil war, the suburban localities where these Pushto speaking normally lived turned into flourishing markets for drug and weapons trade both for domestic consumption and illicit export.

The influential drug dealers started settling down in down town Karachi by buying businesses and property. They were joined by a huge influx of the Afghan refugees who also engaged in lucrative legal and illegal pursuits for making money. For drug dealers and weapon sellers, human life has no significance. The tragedy is that these monstrous elemens are backed and protected by politicians, bureaucrats and highly influential persons from other walks of life as they also get hefty shares from these unlawful and contraband businesses.

The Muhajirs initially swallowed this bizarre situation but when it started threatening and undermining their survival and ethnic solidarity they came out to stand up and face them in a tit for tat violent style. In due course they also organised and mobilized their own cadres to fight back and settle the scores for blood with blood. Both the communities have been engaged in attacks and counterattacks since 1984 when Altaf Hussain established the Muhajir Qaumi Movement later renamed as Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

The MQM has been accused of kidnapping and killing for ransom, target shooting and ambushing and torturing the dissidents from their own party. But usually the MQM’s such activities can be treated as retaliation or reprisals to the atrocities its cadres are subjected to. There are common yet unsubstantiated accusations against the MQM for taking Bhatta (extortion money) from the shopkeepers.

Before an open civil war breaks out, the government should move fast to hand over the task of restoring peace in Karachi to the army. The rangers and the police have failed in rooting out the crime and violence from Karachi. Invariably the action by the law enforcement agencies is to cordon the areas after the incidence of crime and then leave after some time. If the criminals, terrorists and sharp shooters are being aided by the politicians then it would be ridiculous and futile to expect of them to sincerely put out the flames of ethnic wars and stamp out deadly feuding.

The army has been neutral, has the light and heavy weapons, the training and organizational structure to effectively launch anti-crime blitz. It has the capability to clear the Karachi metropolis from the thugs, killers, mercenaries, the illegal immigrants, the warring gangs, the drug and weapon mafia, the sectarian terrorists and similar enemies of peace and for that matter of Pakistan.

The army knows how to deal with such a volatile situation. However, just by way of a feeler, it should impose a curfew with breaks, for a limited period of time (say two months) and set up military courts for speedy trials. The citizens should be encouraged to send their anonymous reports about the whereabouts and names of the criminals in their areas. This strategy would equip the army with most of the data about saboteurs, outlaws, bandits and rogue elements making easy their job of purging Karachi of these anti social elements and enemies of public peace.

While the known criminals with incontrovertible evidence can be dealt with by summary trials and face firing squads, those caught as suspects can be kept in custody, interrogated and if proven guilty should be given heavy jail terms or shot depending upon the nature and severity of the crimes. In this military action, no politicians and powerful individuals who incite and abet these criminals should be spared. They should also be given death sentences or incarcerated for their complicity

In the meantime, the government should convene all parties conference to hammer out a permanent solution to establish durable peace and order in Karachi particularly and elsewhere generally where, violence and terrorism is rampant and mushrooming by leaps and bounds without any let up.

If the government remained wedded to the merely churning out formal statements to crack down on the outlaws but does nothing on the ground, then barring recipients of perks and privileges, high profile jobs and wanton opportunities to enrich themselves, it would lose whatever trust or confidence the people repose in it.