Pakistan's Lyari: from football hub to gangsters' haven

KARACHI (AA) – Lyari, a small shantytown south of Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital, was once reputed for its talented footballers, but is now a notorious haven for hardcore criminals and drug traffickers.

"The gangsters have completely changed the image of this otherwise education- and sport-loving town," Ghulam Mohamed Baluch, a retired schoolteacher and longtime Lyari resident, told Anadolu Agency.

"Nowadays, Lyari isn't known for the wonderful footballers or educationists it produced because of the criminals and gangsters who have wrought havoc on our lives," he lamented.

Lyari is now infamous for its daily artillery duels between rival underworld gangs battling for control of the area, considered a major drug-trafficking hub.

The fierce gun battles can sometimes drag on for as long as four days in a row.

Drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and other crimes have become the norm in the area, which is Karachi's oldest locality.

"Life has become miserable for Lyariites," said Baluch, locally known as "Mama" ("maternal uncle").

"Armed clashes between criminals don't let us come out of our homes after every few days," he fumed.

"One day, criminals from our area attacked their rivals, and the next day the rivals return to pay them back in the same coin," he explained.

Earlier this week, local elders were able to broker a truce between the area's two main gangs, which have been at loggerheads for the last decade.

The move came after a three-day street battle in which the two sides exchanged bombs and mortar fire, killing 11 and injuring over two dozen, including women and children.

Lyari is home to some 1.5 million people of different communities and ethnicities, mainly Baluch and Katchis, who represent Karachi's oldest inhabitants.

The ongoing turf wars have torn the area's social fabric, dividing the two communities that had lived in peace and harmony for over a century.

 

- Football craze -

 

Akbar Ali, a local shopkeeper, was hit in the leg by a stray bullet during a gang battle two years ago.

"Those who had visited Lyari a decade ago would not believe themselves if they came here today," he told AA.

"Things are totally different today," said an emotional Ali. "We are no [longer] recognized [for the] hundreds of educationists, philanthropists, politicians, folk singers, sportsmen and social workers we produced, but [for] criminals, drug traffickers, murderers and kidnappers."

He added: "It's very painful to recall those golden days and see today's Lyari."

In the past, Lyari had gained reputation for producing talented footballers.

"We have produced a large number of footballers during the last 66 years, who earned many titles for Pakistan," said Baluch, referring to the golden era – the 1950s and 60s – of Pakistan's otherwise below-average football team.

In 1960s, the national team ranked fourth on the Asian continent.

"I have seen times when the entire Pakistani national team comprised players from Lyari," Baluch recalled.

The current national squad, by contrast, features only a handful of players from Lyari. Pakistan, meanwhile, now ranks 169 in the world football ranking.  

"Poverty and illiteracy are the two major elements that [caused] our youths to [drift to] crime," Baluch said.

"Handsome amounts [of money] and other privileges have lured a large number of local youths towards drug trafficking and gang war," he added.

Arif Baluch, a young artist and football fan, agrees.

"Instead of idealizing Pele and Maradona, our young men nowadays are involved in drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping for ransom," he told AA.

"The football grounds that once had been the [pride] of Lyari, are deserted, as those who were supposed to play there are carrying guns and killing each other," he added sadly.

 

- Protected -

 

Several security operations have been launched against Lyari's gangs in the recent past, but to little avail.

Criminal groups have even reportedly managed to penetrate the ranks of the security forces.

Their informers tip them off before any security operation, one senior Karachi police officer, wishing not to be named, told AA.

Poverty, a rising population and communal affinities also help gangsters find local support.

"Lyari is one of the poorest and least developed localities in Karachi, where the unemployment rate is high as well," said Baluch, the young artist.

"Criminal gangs provide cash to scores of families belonging to particular communities, which reciprocate by covering up for them in case of any police action," he added.

"They do not realize that in return for this small help, the gangsters are actually playing with the future of generations to come," the artist said.

By Aamir Latif - Anadolu Agency

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