EVEN though Lyari’s hapless people are no strangers to the sounds of gunfire and exploding grenades, Wednesday’s attack in a crowded market in what is surely Karachi’s most neglected neighbourhood took brutality to a new level. Innocent people have died in the past, caught in the crossfire between rival gangs or between criminals and law enforcers. But in Wednesday’s atrocity the criminals seem to have directly targeted civilians to spread terror in the area. At least 14 people were killed — mostly women and children — while shopping, as criminals appeared to launch the assault to ‘avenge’ the death of a comrade who had reportedly been killed by the Rangers in an operation. While in the past announcements were made to warn people before gun battles, no such warning came before the latest carnage.

Once the hub of vibrant political activity, the working-class neighbourhood of Lyari has been surrendered to criminals by the state and political parties. A virtual no-go area — one of many in a city dominated by mafias of various persuasions — for ‘outsiders’ there are parts of Lyari where the presence of law enforcers is non-existent. Here heavily armed young foot soldiers of gangs rule the street. The situation has come to such a head because for several years now, political parties, including the PPP and MQM, have been accused of patronising rival criminal groups. So strong is the gangs’ stranglehold over Lyari’s affairs that potential lawmakers from the area are said to be ‘nominated’ by crime dons. The PPP, which has strong roots in the locality, is particularly to blame for ceding space to criminals. The root of the problem is that there appears to be no political will to rid Lyari of criminal gangs. To top that, despite the ‘grand operation’ that has been under way in Karachi for several months as well as numerous Lyari-specific actions, the law-enforcement agencies have failed to cleanse Lyari of its gangs in a thorough fashion, adopting a piecemeal, reactive approach instead. Until Lyari’s crime dons are arrested and prosecuted and political parties stop patronising gangsters, the area’s people will not see peace, and outrages like the one witnessed on Wednesday will continue.