Political Socialization of Lyari
Lyari has, to say the very least, an interesting social
structure. Lyari is associated with warring gangs, armed militias that fight
over control of various property, drug distribution networks and so on. One
would like to think that the hype the media has created about Lyari and its
gang warfare is just that ; hype. But unfortunately that is not the case.
Unfortunately, the entire social structure of Lyari town revolves around these
gangs. These gangs are heavily involved in not only illegal activities but also
politics and civic administration. It is interesting to note that several gang
leaders are held in very high esteem amongst the Lyari public, primarily
because the gangs act like modern day Robin Hoods. They rob localities, banks,
houses and so on outside of Lyari and after they have cut themselves a hefty
chunk, they help the Lyari locals monetarily often helping local struggling
businessmen and other small businesses like fruit vendors and so on. They also
reportedly help widows and the elderly. But they dont help the locals pro bono,
their help comes with a price, a price of unconditional loyalty in the form of
votes in local body elections, not snitching to the police and at times letting
the gangs use their houses for hiding, contraband storage and so on. If the
gangs feel that the loyalty of a person has waivered or if he has snitched, he
is promptly kidnapped and thrown to the dogs, so to speak. The police isn't an
innocent bystander, often ''arresting'' minors from families in order to
pressurize them to snitch which ultimately means that it is the common public
that suffers.
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