Lull before the storm?: Eerie silence in Lyari after week-long battle

Major roads, markets stayed closed till Saturday evening. A few milk shops, some cabins opened for a few hours.

KARACHI:

After eight explosions that rocked Lyari on Friday evening, the entire neighbourhood has gone mute.

The narrow lanes of the volatile neighbourhood, which are usually packed with people, were deathly quiet. Most houses have been emptied and the residents in the remaining ones dare not venture out. This is not normal in Lyari.

Nevertheless, the week-long gun battle between the Kutchi Rabita Committee (KRC) and the Lyari gangsters ended. The police are confined to the main roads even though several residents asked them clear out the homes occupied by the gangsters. They have also yet to make any significant arrests.

With President Asif Ali Zardari convening a meeting to discuss law and order in Lyari, the law enforcers had little to show in terms of their performance, except the fact that the Kalri and Chakiwara police station SHOs were suspended.

Major roads and markets stayed closed till Saturday evening. A few milk shops and some cabins opened partially for a few hours but they shut down soon after. “We can’t take the risk,” said a shopkeeper on Haji Bachal Road.

Shops in Lyari are running low on supplies as the retailers have been unable to visit wholesale markets and salesmen of various companies are reluctant to visit them. “Most people are borrowing basic necessities,” said Muhammad Ali from Agra Taj Colony.

No way to go to work

The fear of getting kidnapped has also prevented several residents from heading on work since July began. The worse to suffer are daily wage earners. “The ‘gang war’ people kidnap or harm us on the way back home because we have to cross their areas,” said Zubair Ahmed, who works at a shop near Memon Masjid.

Other residents are sure they have been fired since they fail to show up at work. Naveed Ahmed, who works at a garment factory feels the same way. “I’ll look for another job but only after there is peace in the area,” he said. These men feel employers are hesitant to hire people from Lyari.

Deployment

The deployment of the police and Rangers has irked many. “The police patrol is merely a formality,” complained a resident.

Rejecting the government’s initiatives so far, KRC leader Hussain Kutchi said that his people were not satisfied with these “temporary” arrangements. “Who guarantees permanent peace in the area?” he asked. “We are not taken into confidence even for talks at Bilawal House,” he pointed out. Hussain believed that the committee which briefed the president on Lyari’s situation did not represent the Kutchis. “We don’t trust the committee.” Meanwhile, SSP Lyari Tariq Dharejo informed The Express Tribune that the situation was under control. Both parties had agreed to a ceasefire, adding that both the parties had announced a truce from mosques, he added.

Rejecting Dharejo’s claim, Hussain said that the KRC did not announce a ceasefire in Kutchi-dominated areas. “We don’t want to deceive our people because the management has talked to us several times and armed men attack us despite assurance by top officials.”

Migration

Insisting that everything was back to normal, Dharejo also claimed that families who left their homes were returning.

Nearly all the homes that were emptied in the past week still remain that way. “How can we go back until everything is back to normal,” said Zainab Khatoon from Rahimabad. “It is safe to stay at a jamaat khana [community centre] then go back and live in fear.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2013.