KARACHI: Disquiet over Lyari’s relapse into violence
By Latif Baloch
KARACHI, Nov 29: The powerful crime mafia is now threatening to spread its tentacles throughout Lyari as the law-enforcers have failed to control its activities. Though the public representatives are reluctant to speak out on this vital issue, ordinary people want drastic action against the criminal elements for the security of their lives and many blame the politicians for inaction.
Interviewed by this reporter, leaders of political parties admitted on the condition of anonymity that the fear of the mafia had grown to the extent that it had silenced public representatives, non-governmental organizations and common people.
A survey shows that ordinary people in Chawkiwara, Rangiwara, Singu Lane, Kalri (Ali Mohammad Mohalla), Baghdadi, Nawa Lane, Kalakot, Rexer Lane, Nawabad and Daryabad are dismayed at the current crime situation and blamed the political leadership for it.
A resident complained that “Our representatives have left us after getting the vote,” adding that “only those who were the beneficiaries of the party’s previous governments are participating in the party’s activities.”
The survey indicates that by and large people still support the Pakistan People’s Party, but there are others who are starting to look for alternatives as was evident in the last two general elections.
Pointing to the mounting problems of Lyari, associated with drug-related crime, several of the area’s NGOs blamed the local leadership for its failure to address the people’s grievances. They argued that in an environment of rampant unemployment, when narco-terrorists are openly using unemployed youths to carry out their drug business, it is the responsibility of the political leadership to save the younger generation by engaging them in a constructive political activity.
They also deplored that absenteeism was rampant among teachers of government schools, which cancel the students to wander about and become fair game for the drug mafia. In the densely-populated Ali Mohammad Mohalla, residents pointed to bare-footed children wandering the streets without playgrounds and recreational facilities.
In some localities, the residents complained that they cannot leave their homes after sunset due to the constant exchange of gunfire, which has become a daily affair.
Lyari Rabita Council chairman Haji Javed said his organization repeatedly drew the attention of the authorities towards the increasing incidents of crime in the area, but all protests went unheeded.
“Lyari,” he said, “which had been a calm and peaceful area, is turning increasingly violent.” A senior social worker of the locality said that there are two to three gangs operating, and it is not difficult for the police or the administration to curb their activities.
A senior social worker argued that poverty, illiteracy, lack of civic amenities and years of neglect by the authorities have turned Lyari into a fertile breeding ground for a variety of social evils, especially drug addiction, and so far no serious efforts to cleanse it have been made.
