After Dhurandhar, Lyari residents recall the ‘dark ages’ of gang wars: ‘India has also made films like Gangs of Wasseypur’

According to the report, Lyari has a population of nearly 10,00,000. It was Karachi’s first working-class area, but in the early 21st century, the rise of criminal gangs severely disrupted peace and stability. The report shows visuals of buildings riddled with bullet marks, many of them abandoned during the peak of the gang wars.

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‘Dhurandhar trailer made me revisit my childhood’

Kamran Adam, a rapper from Lyari, admitted that the trailer of Dhurandhar reminded him of the Lyari he saw growing up. “Dhurundhar’s trailer made me revisit my childhood, because when these gang wars were happening, we would be playing cricket on the streets.” He added, “People only started accepting Lyari when its talented people came forward. Like our football team went international, and the hip-hop music also gained fame, and it is not seen anywhere else in Karachi.”

Sanjay Dutt’s character is inspired by the real-life Pakistani police officer SP Chaudhry Aslam. (Photo: Chaudhry Aslam, Facebook)

‘It was a dark age’

An elderly resident from the region echoed similar sentiments and said, “Before 2016, it was a dark age.” A boxer from the area recalled how his son and five boxers, including a national-level boxer, from his boxing academy were killed because they were being forced to join gangs.

Writer Ramzan Baloch, also from Lyari, added to this and recalled a life surrounded by violence and how it permanently affected the youth of the region. “Our daily lives were hindered by gang wars. It affected employment, young people were getting killed, the reputation of the area was ruined.”

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‘Gangs made it difficult to cross lanes’

Another Lyari resident explained how every lane in the town had its own ‘hero’, making it difficult for residents to walk freely from one area to another. She also shared her reaction after watching Dhurandhar: “When I watched the trailer, I thought, is this the tension between India and Pakistan because of which Lyari is being targeted or is it something else?”

Rakesh Bedi played the role of cunning politician Jameel in Dhurandhar.

Football grounds, boxing academies – Lyari has come a long way

A young resident spoke about how people from other parts of Karachi often associated Lyari residents with gangs, and how it took time to make them understand that they had no links to criminal groups and that Lyari was peaceful before the gang wars began. Talking about Dhurandhar, he said, “Crime happens everywhere in the world. It is there in New York’s history and in India also they have made films like Gangs Of Wasseypur. We were disrupted before but now Lyari has come a long way.”