Treading Carefully: Families of Lyari come back to the same violence they had left behind

KARACHI:

For the families of Lyari, homecoming was bittersweet to say the least, as the joy of coming back home was marred by reports of violence echoing in the neighbourhood, which injured four people on Sunday.

“Armed men from both groups - Kutchi Rabita Committee and outlawed Peoples Amn Committee - have taken their positions on the rooftops in parts of Lyari and we have taken our positions on the ground in Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Road, which is at the outskirts of the action,” Lyari SP Javed Iqbal Bhatti told The Express Tribune. “It will only take one bullet from either side to start the bloodshed. We fear that any third party could take advantage of the situation.”

The incidents of violence started again in Lyari and its neighbourhood area since Friday night but it escalated on Saturday night before the arrival of the internally displaced people (IDPs) belonging to the Kutchi community, who migrated to Badin, Thatta and other parts of Sindh due to the worsening law and order situation.

On Sunday, at least four people, Ashraf Iqbal, Rehman Daud, Lal Mohammad and Anwar, were wounded in separate incidents of firing in Mandara Mohalla, Niazi Chowk, Baghdadi and Mithadar. They were shifted to Karachi Civil Hospital.

The most-affected areas include Agra Taj, Bihar Colony, Hungorabad, Jumma Baloch Goth, Al-Falah Road and Mandara Mohalla. Meanwhile, armed men from both groups have also reportedly established ‘morchas’ within their areas.

Residents of the affected areas told The Express Tribune that they feared more bloodshed in Lyari and its neighbourhood. “They’ve already warned us that they will kill us,” said Saleem Kutchi, a resident of Al-Falah Road. “We have returned to our homes as our leaders insisted but nobody is here us to assure us that we will remain alive.”

On the other hand, residents belonging to the Baloch community have welcomed the arrival of the Kutchi community. “Baloch and Kutchi are brothers,” said Nadir Baloch, a resident of Moosa Lane, Lyari. “This is a fight between the armed men of both sides.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2013.