LYARI CELEBRATES SPAIN’S VICTORY

Overwhelming majority of the football fans in Lyari celebrated the victory of Spain in the Euro Cup Final defeating Italy by four goals on Monday night. Tens of thousands of people watched the match on wide screen specially installed in every nook and corner of Lyari and its adjoining Baloch localities. It showed the interest of people in world football as the game is discriminated in Pakistan merely because sons of the elite and ruling classes are not playing football. Lyari wore a festive look after the victory of Spain as thousands of fans on motorcycles roamed around the localities carrying the flag of Spain, the most favourite team of the local residents. The festivities were witnessed in areas where people had seen gun battles between the police and the local residents displayed at the Pakistani news channels horrifying the people the world over by painting the image of local residents as ‘savage people’ fighting back the state police force disallowing them to enter the localities and insults families, including women and children, old and sick. Interestingly, the local administration also installed a huge screen at the main Chakiwara intersection where the Deputy Commissioner, Karachi South, was present along with some of his subordinates to enjoy the festivities of Lyari with interesting comments on every exciting movement of the game. It was welcomed by the local residents. It was the real image of Lyari and righting little Brazil of Pakistan where tens of thousands of watched the football final and armed Rangers and policemen too joined watching the game with the football fans. After witnessing the level of interest of the people, the Government of Pakistan should wake up and take up of the task to patronize Football, at least in Lyari, on the pattern of cricket and hockey. We hope that President of Pakistan, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, will personally take notice of this development of soft image of Lyari by asking all the major State Corporations to patronize Football in Lyari and provide good jobs to players so that they should bring a good name for Pakistan. All those banks, financial institutions and state corporations that had stopped patronizing football should be asked to revive this patronage without delay. Lyari is not a locality of gang war people, they have nothing to do with criminal activities; they are outstanding football players and fans, world fame boxers and cyclists, to say the least.