Reconciliation or bust!

We have all heard that making the most spirited kid, class prefect would ensure discipline in the class room. PPP’s provincial government is taking this adage to an unheard of extreme.

According to Daily Times, provincial government is in talks with the notorious criminal Rehman Dakait and he would be pardoned if he cooperates with the government. Apparently, the infamous dakait has met with provincial home minister and king maker par excellence Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, and if everything falls through, he could be one of the numerous ministers in the cabinet. Previously we have only had ‘kaam ke dakait’ as ministers, now we will have a ‘naam ka dakait’ who is a 'kaam ka dakait' as well.


Asif Sahib, like every patriotic Pakistani, I am all for national reconciliation, but this is taking reconciliation to the point of no return. Its reconciliation or bust!

Here is the detailed story:

KARACHI: Lyari’s most prominent mafioso Rehman Dakait and his group are holding talks with the government to surrender in exchange for becoming public servants, Daily Times has learnt.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) member in the National Assembly Nabeel Gabol claimed the credit for the developments. “These all are my efforts. I talked with the gangsters and offered them a package,” he told Daily Times. He said that all cases registered against the outlaws would be rechecked, because “police nominated them in a majority of fake cases”. He said that “minor cases” against the mafiosi would be cleared.

Gabol claimed to have sought a surety from the mafiosi about wiping out the entire Lyari area of all illegal weapons upon their release. He said the government would offer employment opportunities to the outlaws.

Sources said that Dakait could even be a minister in the future. The mafiosi who have reportedly agreed to surrender include the members of sub-groups such as Baba Ladla, Abdul Jabbar Jhengu and Jabbar Lungra. Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza confirmed the reports.

“We have some unofficial reports on the surrender of Lyari’s mafia groups,” he said, adding, “If these gangsters want to surrender and be public servants, it would be good.”

He said that cases registered against Mafiosi would be studied and that they would be “facilitated as much as possible according to the law”. There are several possible motives behind such meetings. The first is to maintain law and order in Lyari and to end the conflict between gangs. The second is that the people of Lyari, especially the Rehman Dakait group, oppose Gabol because according to them he did not favour them since his election in 2002. Gabol’s “indifference” led to the defection of several PPP workers and members of the Rehman Dakait group to the rival Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). Some even demanded Gabol’s removal from the party, upon which he is said to have met Dakait and assured of his full support.

Dakait mostly led the PPP rallies before and after the elections. Recently, Dakait and Gabol met PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad. Zardari and Gabol assured Dakait that cases against him would be settled.

There were reports that Gabol met Haji Lalu, the father of Arshad Pappu, in jail. Lalu is the pioneer of drug business in Karachi, whereas Dakait had worked under Lalu. Nowadays, Lalu and his three sons are in jail. The members of Arshad Pappu’s gang, Ghaffar Zikri and Dr Shoaib, have also agreed to surrender.

Also, there were reports that Gabol was indifferent to the Arshad Pappu group because of its meagre influence, mostly owing to the unavailability of leadership. That's why Pappu's group is depending on Ghaffar Zikri and Dr Shoaib -- the chiefs of Pappu's sub-groups.

Pappu's hold has been limited to Zikri Mohalla and Para, while Dakait’s group has taken control of nearly 99 percent of the areas in Lyari. Sources said that their arrests may soon be shown in a fake encounter, after Dakait’s meeting with high officials of Sindh police. Dakait has also demanded not be killed in an encounter.

The Sindh home minister said in a recent press conference on Lyari, “It is not necessary to kill people to stop the violence. Unemployment is a major cause behind it and we will provide employment."

Nowadays, Rehman Dakait himself is taking interest in eliminating street crimes in Lyari by putting up banners saying, “Lyari ki awam Sardar Abdul Rehman bhai kay shukarguzar hain kay unhon nay Lyari main aman barqarar rakhnay kay liye apna bharpur kirdaar ada kia” (We, the people of Lyari, thank Sardar [lord] Abdul Rehman for trying his best in maintaining peace in the town).

In a related news, it is learned that with the recent announcement of hundreds of vacancies in the Sindh police and government, many people from Lyari, including gangsters have started contacting Rehman Dakait for recommendations to join the force, Daily Times has learnt. It is believed that the Lyari gangsters themselves will police Lyari.