Late night in gangland Lyari

An acquaintance of mine had to rush home the other day after receiving a call around 9pm informing him that some Lyari gangland members had disconnected the kunda supply to his home. He said on arrival, he checked on his family who were all sitting in the dark, before heading to meet the gang responsible. In a small lane, he met four goons seated on a wooden plank and asked why power to his home was disconnected whilst he was at work. On this they said, “You don’t pay us bhatta.” He replied that he was never asked to.

Since it was night and knowing well he would not easily find an electrician this late, he pleaded that power supply be restored, but the goons snubbed him. So he told them he’s going to meet their ringleader; on hearing this the goons burst into laughter. “You four will have to restore the power supply tonight,” he said in disgust. On hearing this, the goons burst into even greater laughter as he left to meet the leader.

Down the lane, he met the gang leader, a burly man with a walkie-talkie set in his hand. “Salaam Waja,” he greeted, before explaining how electricity to his home was disconnected by the gang while he was at work. On hearing this, Waja, with a look of concern, asked his henchmen, who were sitting around smoking, to summon those responsible. Soon, the four goons arrived. Waja enquired and was told, “He does not pay us bhatta.” On hearing this, Waja angrily said, “You are being very unfair not paying.” To this he repeated his earlier stance — I never was asked.

Waja then asked what he did for a living. I work for the press, was his reply. On this Waja blurted, “Now I see why you are so cheeky — you do not pay us and then grumble, too.” Not wanting to make a habit of paying bhatta, and not wanting to infuriate the goons, my acquaintance dodged further scrutiny by offering Rs100 for ordering some tea. Whilst sipping tea, he said that being a native of Lyari he shared the concerns of Lyari and its people and eventually pacified Waja to restore his power supply — who relented. On his way home with the four goons in tow, all they said was, “You could have told us you knew Waja and spared us the humiliation.” This time around he was laughing.

In Lyari over 50 per cent of the populace, for a host of reasons, doesn’t pay its electricity dues and resorts to kunda. Local gangs exploit this situation, demanding bhatta from power consumers on the pretext of keeping the Karachi Electric staff at bay.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2015.