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VOICES OF THE LYARI GANG WAR

June 14, 2022

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Support Our Documentary | VOICES OF THE LYARI GANG WAR

Click on https://thecentrummedia.com/support/ to support this documentary.

TCM is working on a series titled ‘Voices of the Lyari Gang War’ and needs your support to help us collect Rs. 700,000 for this project. This project is centered on the timeline of Lyari becoming a crime hub and the fight for its restoration.

The use of the term ‘gang war’ and buzzworthy media reporting has long stigmatized and isolated the inhabitants of Lyari. We felt that this conflict has always been told from the perspective of the politically backed warlords while the voices of the populace had been deliberately buried. The void gave us an opportunity to give voice to those who have faced the brunt of the conflict while serving as a ray of hope in those times of distress.

The armed conflict in Lyari gradually stemmed from small-scale drug peddlers in the 1960s when a notorious character named Kaala Naag (Black Serpent) built his dominance in the area by managing cinema tickets.

However, the backing of opposing political parties created rival groups in the area that turned it into a battle for territorial dominance as extortion and violence became a norm in the area that was once celebrated for its progressive politics.

During the early 2000 and onwards, Arshad Pappu and Rehman Dakait, who were a part of the same gang in the beginning turned into foes and the bloodshed spread across the Lyari.

After the killing of Rehman Dakait, Uzair Baloch rose to prominence and a new era of brutality, revenge war and extortion begin that was run under a politically supported group called the ‘Peoples Aman Committee’ which was reportedly backed by the Pakistan Peoples Party which was ruling the provincial government.

A long-due operation by the Sindh Rangers and Police helped in rooting out most of the criminals from the area and put an end to the organized gangs. However, the armed conflict made a resurgence in 2017 as Ghaffar Zhikri and Baba Ladla tried to regain their presence.

Lyari has not seen a similar trend of violence for the past 5 years but those circumstances under which criminal activities thrived remain visible on the streets due to poverty, drugs and lack of infrastructure.

Your contribution will enable us to amplify the voices of Lyari

Farooq Baloch is an expert in providing healthcare in danger for the Edhi Foundation in Karachi. Farooq was leading the ambulance services of Edhi in Lyari during the peak of the gang war. He narrates the horrific tales of picking up dead bodies and the heroics of ambulance drivers in providing humanitarian assistance irrespective of their backgrounds.

Parveen is a former teacher and a social activist from Lyari and has been a direct victim of the armed conflict between criminals. The story of Parveen represents the trauma that women of Lyari went through as politically backed criminals battled in Lyari for their dominance. Parveen is the founding member of Mehrdar Art & Production where the youth of Lyari channel their creativity and defy the stigmas attached to their community.

Nabil Gabol is a formerly elected Member of the National Assembly from Lyari. The Gabol family has been a frontrunner in the political discourse of Lyari even before the partition of the subcontinent. Nabil Gabol brings forward exclusive details about the political support offered to criminals, the arrest of Uzair Jan Baloch and the Karachi Operation that brought significant peace to Karachi.

Ramzan Baloch is a writer, social activist and senior citizen who has seen the progression and downfall of Lyari from being a hub of diversity to a centre of armed conflict between criminals. Ramzan takes us back to the time when Lyari was a reference for peace and progressive thinking in the country.

Zia ur Rehman is a journalist and researcher based in Karachi who has covered the issues of security, terrorism, human rights and governance. Zia ur Rehman offers a perspective on the history of the Lyari gang war and the difficulties that put their lives at risk while reporting the conflict.

A.H. Khanzada is an investigative journalist from Karachi and has closely reported on the conflicts that turned the city of lights into an opportunity for the political parties to harbour criminals.

Baluch Twins is a duo music band from Lyari that has defied the stigmas of gang war attached to the community through their blend of contemporary and classical singing. The group depicts the hope, resilience and aspirations of the youth of Lyari to separate the course of the future from the past of guns, drugs and extortion.

We Need Your Support

We’ve documented the in-depth interviews of the subjects and have recorded minimal visuals that are relevant to the anecdotes narrated by the characters.

However, we need to extensively record general B-rolls and missing visuals that are necessary to present the stories being narrated in the series. We also need to acquire the rights of some of the archival footage to be used in the series as it is essential to bring credibility.

Since the digital outlook demands aesthetically engaging visuals for the audience to get a complete sense of the stories, we need your support for the production cost of reenactments.

The essence of digital stories is made presentable by the post-production process which involves experienced NLE work and sound design for which we need your support.

Breakdown of Project Cost

Your support will not only help us complete this project but will also mainstream the issues of the residents of Lyari, and shed light on the survivors and their efforts to bring normalcy to the conflict-struck area. This will open up a new discourse into viewing conflicts from a human eye and root out the underlying issues that took the peace of Lyari.

Click on https://thecentrummedia.com/support/ to support this story.