Lyari strongmen break bread with traders keen to remove ill will over extortion

Representatives from 300 markets in the city turn up for candid discussion.

KARACHI: The smell of ghee wafted into the crowded Sonara Hall near Lyari’s Kakri Ground on Tuesday afternoon, as men settled into their plush chairs – embellished with glittering peacock motifs – and stared at a stage with vacant red sofas.

This wasn’t an afternoon wedding reception, but a lunch for representatives of market associations and the Peoples Amn Committee (PAC), which was banned last year in October amid allegations of extortion rackets and target killings. PAC leaders such as Sardar Uzair Jan Baloch and Zafar Baloch officially deny that their group extorts money from traders, but its name has become almost synonymous with the phenomenon.

This prompted All Karachi Tajir Ittehad head Atiq Mir to take on the task of removing the label from the group. For Wednesday’s lunch, Mir managed to bring in representatives from 300 markets in the city. After the ex-PAC head was gifted ajraks by the men at the head of the market associations, Mir and Uzair Baloch addressed the audience from Timber Market, Bohrapir, Machi Mayani Market, Boulton Market, Plastic Market and Alam Cloth Market.

“I consider Uzair my younger brother,” Mir said. “Whenever the condition of the city worsens it is important that all groups come forward. It is very easy for us to blame a group for what is happening but these misgivings arise from the lack of contact, as well as allegations by rival groups. It is important that we stay in touch.”

Sardar Uzair Jan Baloch, for his part, said Lyari’s residents, particularly the women, had deterred attempts by others to take over their area. “If we have the people and the law by our side, then I swear on God that establishing peace is not difficult.”

However, the veteran of violence assessed that the renewed spree of target killings is linked to the upcoming general elections. “The current situation is only 5% of what will happen as elections near,” was the Lyari group leader’s dire prediction. “The situation will worsen.”

“Politics was once just about lying,” he said. “Now it is the politics of corpses.” He vowed that he would support and assist traders. The All Karachi Tajir Ittehad press secretary Ismail Lalpuria said that there had been several meetings before between the association and PAC leaders, and this was a part of continuing dialogue. He also said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had assured traders of its support.

What has raised alarm bells for traders is that the phenomenon of extortion – commonly known as bhatta – has expanded from District South to District Central. According to Lalpuria, “There have been three extortion attempts this month on traders in Liaquatabad, as well as a grenade attack.” At least four telecommunication franchises that received extortion demands have been attacked recently as well, and their staff killed.

The chairman of the Old City Traders Alliance, Jameel Paracha, said that traders are still getting phone calls from gangs who openly take the names of Lyari people to demand money. In return, Baloch told the traders that they were capable of doing anything to challenge extortionists who misuse their names, Paracha quoted him as saying.

“This is something very disturbing for traders. And we explained this situation to Baloch in the meeting,” he added. Another leading trader estimated that the extortion groups rake in millions of rupees from the old city markets alone. On average, only one out of 10 traders actually inform their associations when they receive threats.

“We cannot figure out exactly how much money goes monthly. But our rough estimates say that the figure must go into the millions,” he added.

While some traders posed for photographs with Mir and Uzair Baloch, others found solace in the greasy plates of food and kheer. The lunch wound up and Uzair Baloch, as well as a hobbling Zafar Baloch, still on crutches after an assassination attempt that fractured his leg last year, left in gleaming cars.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2012.