The untold tales of Lyari Gang wars, poverty, Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP), football and, maybe, boxing are the notions usually
associated with Lyari, one of Karachi’s oldest neighbourhoods.
There is, however, more to Lyari than these stereotypes.
Historically, the inhabitants of Lyari were among the first
settlers Karachi. In her book “The Dual City: Karachi During the
Raj,” renowned architect Yasmeen Lari writes: “By 1890 the
population of Lyari had already reached 24,600.” These figures
are indicative of Lyari’s high population rates even before the
notion of partition emerged. Even today, the area remains among
the most densely populated, with the highest ratio of
inhabitants-per-square-kilometre. Some of the most popular names
to have been associated with Lyari include Hussain Shah (Olympic
boxer), Umar Baloch, Ghulam Abbas and Ustaad Qasim
(footballers), Waja Ghulam Muhammad Noor ud Din (educationist),
Syed Sajjad Ali Shah (former Chief Justice), Waja Khair Mohammad
Nadvi (scholar who translated Quran i