LAHORE: A documentary film, Shadowlands, on Lyari area of Karachi has strived to capture the grief and tragedy in the aftermath of the gang war and operations in the area and how it has affected its residents, humanising the whole issue surrounding the violence.

The film tells the stories of two residents of Lyari who got affected by the gang war as well as the operation launched to control it. One of them is Nawaz Laasi, a septuagenarian who lost his four sons in the violence—two in the gang war and as many in the so-called police encounters. The other protagonist is Amna Baloch, the widow of a comrade of Rehman Dakait who was killed along with his leader in 2009, leaving her a widow to fend for three children at a young age. She later turns an activist working for human rights in the area. The film depicts not just their sob stories and tragedies but resilience, especially of Nawaz Baloch whose account moves one to tears despite his alcoholism.

His only happiness is his young grandchildren for whom he still earns by selling pakoras in the locality. It’s through his narrative that the film-makers focused on the root cause of the young people falling into the trap of the gangs. Amna’s story gives an insight into her life after the killing of her husband and the challenges she faced due to the involvement of her husband in the gang.

It’s through the stories of the protagonists that the documentary humanises the aftermath of Lyari gang problem and the audiences get a perspective different from the state or the official narrative that has had a part in the rise of the gangs and extremity of the violence. The film was screened at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Speaking about the process of making the documentary in the talk after the screening, Nida Kirmani, the producer of the film, said she had started her research on Lyari in 2012 but the film project started very late and it was completed in one-and-a-half years. It started with focus group discussions in Lyari, a diverse area with 50pc of its population consisting of the Baloch and 30pc Kachhi community.

“There were many stories in the focus group discussions and the people shared their stories despite all the risks as the violence has not ended there yet as the people are being picked up (by the authorities) and killed in encounters,” she said.

Nida said there was a third story under consideration too—of Naseema who had also lost four sons in encounters –but we did not just want the documentary to be a victim story and showing just sufferings. “Chacha Nawaz is not just a victim he is resilient and a strong person with a sense of humour despite his victimhood and alcoholism that’s also his coping mechanism. Amna’s story is also of resistance,” she said, adding that both these stories were neither of just victimhood nor of celebratory resistance.

Nida said the people of Lyari welcomed the documentary as their story was being told but acknowledged that there was critique too from them, especially about exposing those behind the gangs, including the PPP, which was not shown in the film.

To a question, Nida said she was always looking as a bystander as both protagonists were not directly involved in the gang violence but they were affected by it.

“We have tried to show why people get involved in violence, including economic situation, regardless of good and bad things. One of the objectives was to show that Lyari people, including the Baloch, are not bad. And if some people did something wrong, there were reasons behind it. We tried to get out of stereotypes of good and bad.”

Nida Kirmani said Gen Ayub Khan wanted to resettle Lyari residents in Korangi, then a suburb, but they resisted him and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto supported them. The PPP was very popular in Lyari because ZAB had given them property rights in the 1970s and his party did development work there also, she said and added that the politics got violent with the emergence of the MQM in the 1980s and 1990s. “The MQM had its militant wing but the PPP had no such wing and it made the criminals of Lyari its militant wing. Zulfiqar Ali Mirza had openly stated that he had given 3,000 arms licences to Lyari people and it was no secret that these people were PPP workers.”

Nida said the Lyari had always been a major hub for the Baloch for political organizing, including nationalist organizing. “Many people believe that the gangs were supported (by the state) to counter any kind of nationalist element in the area.” Referring to a poster, she said Uzair Baloch and Rehman Dakait wore Baloch turbans while celebrating Baloch culture day.

The talk was moderated by Tania Saeed of the Education, Justice and Memory Network (EdJAM), a UK based organisation, which also funded the documentary project. The film has been directed by Dostain Baloch.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2023