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The battle for the soul of Lyari
Liberated, empowered Lyari dangerous as it will question ruling coalition policy of enslavement, political expansion.
The writer was a member of the Senate from 2003-08 and of the National Assembly from 1997-99. He tweets @Senator_Baloch
Lyari, the mother of Karachi and the birthplace of Baloch nationalism, is now a scene of hopelessness. Instead of resonating with the prophetic speeches of Baloch literary icon Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi and the magical voice and lyrics of Ustad Abdul Sattar, today one hears guns, cannons, rockets, shells and snipers. Resembling the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, weapons have seized upon the mystique of the poorly-enriched Baloch society.
Politically ill-represented and exploited, around two million Baloch in Lyari and Malir at the mercy of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have been treated as loyal, submissive subjects. Young, muscular Baloch youth have been hired as bodyguards for the PPP’s top leaders, including Benazir Bhutto. Elderly Baloch mothers serve as unpaid housekeepers at Bilawal House. The PPP wants to retain this status quo at all costs. Any sign of change in behaviour, positive social transformation, political organisation and awareness among the Baloch in Lyari is considered to be defiant and disloyal by the PPP.
It is not difficult to understand why Lyari transformed from being the Mecca of Baloch nationalism to a haven for gangs and the drug mafia. Once the PPP realised that educated Lyariites were prone to Baloch nationalism and rights-based politics, it began sowing the seeds of crime, drugs and gangs to systematically destroy the social fabric of one of Karachi’s most powerful, energetic and united communities. During the 1980s, some of these prominent gangs and mafias were reinvented by the powerful establishment to counter the Baloch Students Organisation, the only powerful political and social forum for the Baloch of Karachi during General Ziaul Haq’s military rule.
After using drugs and gangs as weapons of mass destruction, the second phase of economic marginalisation of the Baloch started with the rise of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) by discharging thousands of Baloch labourers from the Karachi Port Trust and other Baloch-dominant departments.
Recent political developments and the growing empowerment of the MQM by the Pervez Musharraf regime further exacerbated life for the Baloch in Karachi. Sitting on Karachi’s strategically significant land strip, Baloch social and human rights activists had been long on the hitlist of criminals. Prominent human rights activist Nisar Baloch was shot dead on November 7, 2009 in Karachi for addressing members of the press and publicly saying that certain groups were after him. The Balochistan National Party Karachi president, Zahid Baloch, was also murdered on November 1, 2008, in Karachi and, this was mainly because of his role in mobilising Karachi’s Baloch for demanding their due rights.
The ongoing operation is not aimed at liberating Lyari or at empowering its people. The entire drama is a part of the government’s policy of replacing the gangs with their own chosen ones. By doing this, the ruling clique seeks to ensure that its stranglehold on Lyari is strengthened — after all, precious resources such as land are at stake.
A truly liberated and empowered Lyari is considered very dangerous. Liberated Lyariites will question the ruling coalition’s policy of systematic enslavement and forceful political expansion. Impoverished, marginalised, politically enslaved by the PPP and disowned by the state due to its Baloch identity, Lyari has turned into a hunting ground for notorious police officials like Chaudhry Aslam. The ongoing operation will have long-term consequences. The feeling of alienation has already been elevated. Thousands of marginalised youths will be further radicalised leading to more instability.
Since the state has subcontracted its responsibilities to political mafias in the country, particularly in Karachi, it is hard to envisage a sensible approach with regard to a resolution for the multilayered social, economic, ethnic and political conflicts. Social development and harmonisation of society need unbiased social reengineering. Addressing socioeconomic, political and other challenges faced by the people in Lyari, need more attention rather than costly operations for the replacement of unfavoured groups of people or gangs by another privileged mafia.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2012.
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Reader Comments (35)
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Sana Baloch – always classic and factual – “Politically ill-represented and exploited, around two million Baloch in Lyari and Malir at the mercy of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have been treated as loyal, submissive subjects. Young, muscular Baloch youth have been hired as bodyguards for the PPP’s top leaders, including Benazir Bhutto. Elderly Baloch mothers serve as unpaid housekeepers at Bilawal House”.
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Just wonderful.
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God doesn’t help those who don’t want to help themselves. Completely True for the Baloch People!!!
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Perhaps god doesn’t want to help
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It’s a tragedy how the plight of the baloch in lyari is ignored by the media while the media and twitterati go on raising hue and cry about the baloch in balcohistan.Why no media outrage over what is being done to the baloch in lyari? Where are the NGO’s and the human rights organisations which are always very vocal about the missing persons in balochistan but remained completely silent over this politically motivated operation in lyari?
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The people of lyari always voted for the ppp, another party wanted to take over this last remaining seat for ppp in karachi and so an operation was launched to eliminate the people who were standing in the way.There were armed men in masks assisting the police,sitting in police mobiles,taking over the area that belonged to the aman committee people.Why was the police helping a new group take over lyari.
The ppl of lyari constantly blamed mqm and the sindh govt for the operation.Why do innocent ppl have to pay the price for politics.
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Where are the news anchors with their angry talkshows over the mistreatment of the baloch in lyari.It seems that all the anger is just for the baloch in balochistan,there were no protest rallies,no hashtags on twitter when the baloch in lyari were being subjected to brutalities by the sindh police in lyari.These double standards should end.What is wrong in balochistan is also wrong in lyari.Just because the political party behind persuading the ppp to launch this police action is a favorite of the karachi liberals doesn’t make the human rights violations in lyari any more acceptable.
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Comparing the situation in Lyari to the Warsaw ghetto uprising, what utter ridiculousness. Please make valid historical comparisons, we do not have a fascist party ruling pakistan that is committing systematic genocide. Anyone who believes otherwise either does not understand what ‘genocide’ entails, or is hopelessly ignorant about the ability of nation states to carry it out if and when they desire. Cracking down on armed thugs and criminals is not genocide even if there is collateral damage. Even if we are to hypothetically assume that the state is killing random baloch politicians or figures, that too i am sorry is not genocide. Only a systematic chopping down of all belonging to a particular genus is called genocide
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Nawaz Shareef is going to win from Lyari this in this election…if Uzair baloch group aka PAC picks him as new daddy :)
Rung badalta hay AasmaaN kesay kesay!
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Sana is a good writer but i wonder why he did not add the very important point what PAC is, who has armed them and what are their activites. They are surely responsible for lots of problems, if not all. People of Lyari should have awoken earlier instead of waiting for the operation which surely was not against them but was agains the criminals. Be it any party, people of lyari must decide who is good for them to give them self respect and dignity than just serving as unpaid guards or house maids. Lyarittes must not be supporting criminals again. They have a very decent culture and is not reflected by the mafias being shown as the leaders currently. Sometime i feel Uzair is hijacked by some bigger mafias as in his group only himself and another person is Baloch and rest are not Balochs.
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Great write-up by Senator Baloch. Although, I’m a Punjabi but I’ve always been an admirer of his speeches since his Senate days.
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The writer has blamed on Muttahida for economic marginalization of Baloch people but did not give any concrete proof in support of her charges.Even Zulfiquar Mirza has never come out with this type of allegation. Yes Baloch have more rights to get job in government and private organizations than us but one should see who have exploited them badly. When the operation was taking place Where was Zulfiquar Mirza?. who used them for his vested interest and pitted them against Muttahida. Those who live in Karachi are brother to one another regardless of cast creed and religion and should take care of each other but the problem is that people whose mind are driven by their personal prejudices put us against each other. Now the time has come to recognize our enemy and live together and work for the prosperity of Lyar, Liaqtabad and the whole Pakistan Insha Allah
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A mish-mash of an article which raises several important points. Lyari has been enslaved by the PPP for the last 40 years according to the article. What took so long for Sanaullah Baloch to speak up????? Being a prominent politician, one would expect of him to offer some solutions for rehabilitation and upliftment of Lyari’s people, well at least the Baloch segment of the population, since the writer has confined himself only to the plight of the Baloch.
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@smj: Not a chance, smj. I bet dollars to donuts that if he allies himself with NS and run for election he will be eliminated from the political scene in Lyari.
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While largely agreeeing with Sanaullah Baloch, I differ with him when he says that
a: .. the PPP sowed the seeds of crime, drugs and gangs in Lyari and (b) During the 1980s, some of these prominent gangs and mafias were reinvented by the powerful establishment to counter the Baloch Students Organisation, the only powerful political and social forum for the Baloch of Karachi during General Ziaul Haq’s military rule.
In fact PPP can not be blamed for this phenomenon. In fact, shocked by Lyari’s leading role in 1983′s Movement for Restoration of Democracy, the hidden hands of anti-democratic forces created the gangs to depoliticise Lyari to minimise the influence of PPP in its stronghold
BSO had never been the only powerful political and social forum for the Baloch of Karachi during General Ziaul Haq’s military rule THis credit goes to PPP and after it to the Communist Party of Pakistan which through its different fronts like Pakistan national Party, Democratic Students Federation and Naujawan Tehrik, even Baloch Ittehad created by comrades as a transit lounge for the Baloch people of Lyari in their perceieved journey from PPP to PNP, which was the force to reckon with in Lyari of Zia era.
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Excellent piece!
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Rumors abound that this is land grab battle instigated by Tappi Zardari (step brother to pres.) who used the lyari gangs to clear out land worth about Rs. 50B behind Nishat cinema and next to abdullah shah ghazi mazar and then sold to developers. Others involved in the deal were zardari, zulfiqar mirza, mqm and the army. When the gang members found out the value of the deals they asked for their share which led to the current crackdown.
Apparently, the fight bw zulfiqar mirza and mqm was also over the same deal because mqm was brought into the deal late at the expense of some of zulfiqar mirzas share.
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Sana Sahib, please don’t misguide the common baloch people. you are one of the so-called tribal leaders, who are thriving on the misery common people. wonder when you raised your voice for their rights; only when you were out of the government and were trying to make a come back in the power corridors. Have mercy on the baloch.
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A good Op Ed by SB. With the said history of exploitation of Lyari people going back to early 80′s, it is an open secret who is responsible for their plight? Who has been continuously in power and who has been victimized by the dictators. People of Lyari suffered like most PPP die hard supporters. More so in Lyari because they have been one of the only original inhabitants and the only base of PPP.
No doubt they have been taken for granted as PPP leaders know full well that they have no better options. Having said that there should be a sense of responsibility among the local people and they should not encourage the gang and drug culture. No party or ethnic group has forced this on the Lyari people. It is their own choice and my heart aches to write this and believe me I am with them and value their lives as much as mine. Sorry, I did not mean to hurt anybody’s feelings. The people of Lyari should come out of this crisis smelling like rose.
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It’s a circular debt the lyariites will keep on paying as long as the stick with these ultra corrupt PPP leaders. Time to form our own political party in Karachi. We can win more NA and PA seats than our Pashtun brothers. Time to revive the old Baloch League, time to fight the political fight for our rights not to beg for them. Keep it Sana people are starting to listen keep up the ante.
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Thanks Abdul Sattar Edhi who pointed out if 8-day long non-stop fight continued further in congested area of Lyari, thousands of people would die from hunger & thirst. Thus, human tragedy was averted.
Shamelessly, the PPP govt. closed the effective and quick Ambulance Service of Edhi in Lyari during the fight.The puppet Sindh government headed by 84-year old Syed Qaim Ali Shah did all this to “please” one ethnic group in coalition government. What a shame!Recommend
Story of disenfranchised people all over the country they need to claw their way to uplift themselves . The best vehicle is education and further education and building a civil society and opposing gangsterism which is a very temporary solution against the established gangs whether in the police, judiciary, political parties, religious pressure groups, the civil bureaucracy.
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@shoaib. You are absolutely right. It is a war between owais tappi and the gangs. Govt. Passed 2.5 billion package for lyari. Tappi got 1 billion for that package for his own campaign for election in lyari. And bilawal bhutto got 1.25 billion for his campaign. Only 0.25 billion were allocated for the development. Gangs of lyari asked their share and fight started.
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Great.
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“The entire drama is a part of the government’s policy of replacing the gangs with their own chosen ones”
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Mr. Sana Baloch, you are saying MQM displaced few of 2.0 millions baloch from Karachi Port Trust, can you please put a light on Urdu Speaking people who are 12 million in number in Karachi but still only managed to administer the city for 5 years during Pervez Musharraf regime out of 63 years of Pakistan’s existence, and let me tell those 5 years during Pervez Musharraf was the best for Karachi and Pakistan.
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I thanks to former Senator Honorable Sana Baloch to mentioned his grievances about the
old Territory of the karachi .Baloch is truly unaccepted by this country’s ruler a brilliant person should not deny with this truth .If you No matter they say the got many opportunities of Baloch truly they are the worst enemy of this oppressed nation . Before it gets late Baloch should open their eyes and old the same rope of struggle which has been held by the freedom of believer .
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Nice to hear The Sanaullah baloach– and some good comments from others .
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every where the Pakistan state is treating Baloch Nation like animals. They don’t even consider us a part of this country but slaves. Same attitude of Army Led Country towards Dismemberment in 1971, and now the same policies are continued. now Baloch and as well as Sindhis are demanding separation from this country. they become fed up from the aggressive policies of Army.
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Thought provoking article by Sana Baloch. The people of Lyari should get rid of both PPP and the gangsters and organize themselves as a progressive Baloch entity doing politics in the federation. I know it is not an easy job but ultimately they have to think on this line. Now Habib Jan, Zafar Baloch and other PPP leaders of Lyari should learn some lesson from the crack down on Lyari people by their own coalition government.
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The problem of Lyari is multi-faceted as opposed to a one-dimensional approach adopted by the author. Instead of focusing just on Baloch sentiments, one must also focus on other ethnicities which reside there. It is easy to address the issue of Baloch nationalism in the current political scenario but one needs to be brave to mention things like torture cells, drugs problem, poverty and weapons which are a mainstay of Liyari these days.
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ET carried a story recently that detailed the family tree of the gansters fighting for gambling dens and other vices in Lyari. It is a pity the writer did not acknowledge this fact about Lyari where residents dread to enter the risky lanes during daytime. Needless to mention terror regins at night.
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MQM, PPP, ANP and others serve the state(rulers) through their extortion enterprise. Functionaries at the bottom of the chain are replaced periodically by police/military action for smooth service. Those who stress ethnicity to establish political constituency, have no regard for the suffering of Baloch, Muhajir, Sindhi or Pukhtun.
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Warsaw uprising= Lyari,
How can you compare genocide with armed gangs running around freely and killing local residents. People have a tendency to cook up stuff in this country What I do not understand is that why is nationalism even supported by educated people in general. In the developed world supra-nationalism does not receive such plaudits, on the contrary it is usually belittled and ascribed as something similar to racism yet educated people in our country who go on propping it up as something to be proud of.
As for the gangsters and felons regardless of the ethnicity or district within the city they belong to they should be prosecuted against as the state can not keep on functioning like a banana republic where everyone enforces their writ over their region. The sorry aspect of this entire episode is that people go on complaining about the crimes committed within the city and when action is taken against a group of criminals they immediately start touting nationalistic slogans and proclaim crimes against their race or ethnicity. I do not know about you but according to me anyone who commits a crime should face justice regardless of religion creed class or race. Recommend
@JANUBABA:
Totally agree with your observations. What a pity it has come to this. Right now the picture is bleaker than one would.
Poor administrative decisions due to lack of interest at the centre, have provided opportunity to the petty politicians for exploiting ethnicity or religion. Days of ultra nationalism or street corner patriotism are passe, but not here.
Despite with all the academic qualifications, even from top notch universities, there are hardly any persons, who raise the level of discourse to a sublime level. The pseudo intellectualism hawked by Bhuttos has become the benchmark. Anti-intellectualism has monopolised debate, a great contribution of Zia.
Politicians mainly rely on the advice of tacticians who are myopic as a shrew. Their aim is just to win the next bout, with no concern for long term consequences, thus the situation in Lyari.
Ordinary voter is no more than an exploitable commodity. It will take a long time to inculcate democratic values among the unwashed, till then only a miracle can bring changes in the country. Miracles don’t happen every day, but false messiahs are born every minute.
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