Unease with peace?: Lyari waits with bated breath as rumours of ceasefire and jirga circulate

The jirga is to be held by the elders’ committee, PPP lawmakers and Karachi City Alliance.

KARACHI: Rumours of a ceasefire between the two gangs of Lyari embroiled in a battle for the last three days resonated in the area on Sunday instead of the sound of gunfire and rockets.

A jirga, called by the elders committee of Lyari and some lawmakers, was said to take place but till the filing of this report, no decision had been taken about the course of action.

“I made phone calls to Sania Naz and Javed Nagori, the Pakistan Peoples Party’s lawmakers, and urged them to come out of their homes and play their role for the negotiations — even if it meant sacrificing their lives,” said Friends of Lyari Chairperson Habib Jan Baloch while talking about the ceasefire. “I even urged Uzair Baloch and Baba Ladla to understand the repercussions of this animosity. We eat food from the same place and need to look out for our common interests. They need to understand the loss will only be ours if things continue this way and the conspirators against us will benefit.”



The fresh spate of gang war reportedly between the notorious gangster, Baba Ladla, and the outlawed Peoples Amn Committee began on Thursday. A curfew-like situation prevailed in the tense areas on Sunday evening, forcing dozens of families to move to safe places and take shelter in different community halls.

Police officials, however, were unaware of a ceasefire. “We are not concerned with a ceasefire. We have taken to task several men from both sides and also seized weapons and explosives from them. Our actions weaken them which is why we will continue to do our job,” Karachi Additional IG Shahid Hayat told The Express Tribune. “There are some operational difficulties as Lyari is a congested area with narrow lanes but we are trying our level best to wipe out every gangster from the area.”

Rumour has it

According to sources inside the groups, the jirga was to be held in Lyari by the elders committee, PPP lawmakers and Karachi City Alliance Chairperson Shahid Rehman. It was initially decided to hold the jirga in the Amn Park but the venue was changed due to the presence of the Rangers and police.



Law enforcers near the park were reportedly attacked with hand grenades but no official was injured. Around half a dozen passers-by, however, were wounded.

Vested interests

The ceasefire, if agreed upon, will only be a temporary one. “In Lyari, friends can be foes but foes can never become friends,” said an insider while talking to The Express Tribune. Both groups are open to the ceasefire as they are aware that the escalating violence will harm them, said the source, but as soon as things become normal, they will start fighting again.

Law enforcers, on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that they were unhappy with the potential ceasefire between the two groups. “Our strategy was not to end the gang war. We had decided that we would let the violence take its toll on the gangsters and arrest the remaining ones,” said an official. But for the sake of the uninvolved residents, according to the official, extra contingent of the Rangers and police, including police commandos and commandos of the Rangers’ Anti-Terrorist Wing, reached Lyari to conduct a large-scale operation against the gangsters.

Rangers Director General Major General Rizwan Akhtar and Karachi police chief Shahid Hayat also paid a visit to the affected areas of Lyari and monitored the operation. An overnight meeting was also held at the Rangers Headquarters during which it was decided that operation in the troubled neighbourhood would continue till the arrest of all the gangsters. An alleged gangster, Akhtar alias Akku, was also killed during an alleged encounter late Saturday night.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2013.