THE bodies are piling up yet again, which inevitably raises the question: are the infamous gangs of Lyari coming back to life? The Karachi locality had until some years ago become a byword for lawlessness where rival gangs involved in extortion, kidnapping for ransom, and various other criminal rackets ruled the streets and terrorised people, both in the neighbourhood and beyond. Turf wars between them could explode into deadly confrontations at a moment’s notice; numerous innocents lost their lives in the process, not to mention the criminals themselves. Among the most horrific episodes of gang-on-gang violence took place in March 2013, when Arshad Pappu, one of Lyari’s main ringleaders, his brother and an acquaintance were tortured to death allegedly by members of a rival gang led by notorious underworld figure Uzair Baloch. The suspected perpetrators were arrested and put on trial, which is still ongoing. On Tuesday, two of the accused, including a former SHO, were gunned down in broad daylight in Karachi’s Saddar area while returning from a court hearing.

What has rekindled fears of Lyari’s return to the bad old days is that less than three months ago, on Dec 31, an identical hit was carried out against another accused, a former police inspector named Javed Baloch, while he too was returning from a court hearing. A friend accompanying him was also shot dead. Investigators believe the murders to be revenge killings by members of the Arshad Pappu gang. Whatever the truth of the matter, law-enforcement must mop up whatever remnants have resurfaced of the vicious outlaws that once held Lyari hostage. But this is far more than a law-and-order issue. Behind the proliferation of the gangs in the area — once a hub of progressive movements and resistance to military dictatorships — is a story closely interwoven with national and local politics. The fact is, an entire generation of Lyari’s youth was pushed into criminality to serve a cynical agenda. There must be no repeat of that terrible strategy.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2022