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ONCE again, there is turmoil in the congested streets of Lyari. A supposed crackdown against ‘gangsters’ in Karachi’s most troubled area on Friday turned into a battle between law-enforcers and gunmen.
Friday’s action was triggered by the shooting to death of a PPP worker in the locality a day earlier.
Violence continued into Saturday, with a number of fatalities reported. Police say ‘terrorists’ of the ‘defunct’ People’s Amn Committee clashed with the law-enforcers; what is alarming is that the gunmen’s powerful armoury matched that of the police. While Lyari is in the throes of violence, the rest of Karachi remains relatively unaffected, indicating there is a disconnect between what goes on in that forsaken corner of the city and the rest of the metropolis.
It is easy for the police to say they are up against ‘gangsters’, but more transparency is needed. Are the law-enforcers up against armed residents of Lyari, or are they facing resistance from the crime lords who rule the area?
Whatever the case, the common people are suffering the most. When politics and crime come together they form a toxic mix, and perhaps that is what we are witnessing in this under-developed, crime-ridden part of Karachi. Some PPP leaders had earlier backed the Amn Committee — widely believed to be a front for criminal elements. Now that the criminals are out of control the party is taking action against the very forces it once apparently patronised.
It is similar to the situation on the national stage, where sections of the establishment once backed jihadi militants as ‘strategic assets’; these very ‘assets’ have now turned their guns on the state. The lesson to be learnt from Lyari is that patronising thugs and criminals to secure street power is not a viable policy; these elements are no substitute for genuine political workers. Also, if the PPP-led government cannot control Lyari — its supposed bastion — what about law and order in the rest of Karachi? It is time the ruling party backed up its stated good intentions with sincere actions to rid Lyari of criminals and provide socioeconomic opportunities for its blighted residents.
