We don’t want any more peace committees, say the Katchhis of Lyari

Scores of people of Katchhi community gather to celebrate second anniversary of Katchhi Rabita Committee.

KARACHI: Scores of people of the Katchhi community gathered at the Kakri Ground in Lyari on Sunday to celebrate the second anniversary of the Katchhi Rabita Committee (KRC), a group set up to defend their rights. Children sat with their families in the sweltering heat, clapping and frantically waving their flags every time someone cried ‘Jeay Katcchi!’ [Long live Katcchi].

“We have a population of 3.5 million in Karachi,” said Ishaq Katchhi, the sector incharge of KRC, Lyari, adding that they were holding the rally to let everyone know that, “we are also citizens of Pakistan and will not tolerate any discrimination or cruelty”.

He did not mince words. “We are being mugged, threatened and killed by the People’s Aman Committee. Our boys are asked their ethnicity and when they tell them, they are shot.” The last straw was when three boys were picked up from Kalri and their bodies were found near a garbage dump in Baghdadi. After that, the young men got together and decided to open a community centre that could deal with these injustices.

On February 20, 2009, the KRC was formed. Within two years it has gained strength. “We are not here to take the law into our hands,” said Asif Bhatti, president of the Fishermen and Boat Owners Association. “But we won’t take injustice lying down. The government will have to put an end to this violence against us.”

The women sang songs and shouted slogans, many of them had been wounded by the ongoing violence. An elderly Fatima Hingora lost her granddaughter. “She was just standing by the window and someone shot her,” she said. When the family asked, they found out that a gang had thought she was “spying” on them. Two years earlier, her nephew was also killed for ‘spying’.

Another woman told The Express Tribune that she had joined the KRC after she was thrown out of her ancestral home. Pointing towards Ishaq, she said that he helped her out. “I’m fighting the case in court. Let’s see what happens.”

“If Benazir’s husband really wants to do something for the people of Lyari, he should first fire Zulfiqar Mirza,” commented another woman as others nodded.

“We have voted for them [PPP],” said young Hameeda. “We have given them Benazir’s place so they better start keeping their promises.”

Spirits were high and the event managers worked to keep the mood upbeat. A band, Katchhi Band, and a Sindhi dhol kept up the beats near the stage. UN Ambassador Abdullah Haroon and Qadir Patel also attended the event.

“Let me clarify something,” said Fatima Hingora. “We are not against Baloch people. Lyari is the only place where you will meet people from every community. But please tell Zardari that we do not want any more aman [peace] committees. Their members are usually drunk and they kill our children.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2011.