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Book Reviews

Book Review: Dongri to Dubai (2012)

AUTHOR

S. Hussain Zaidi is a former crime reporter, investigative journalist, and novelist whose books based on Mumbai crime became bestsellers. His in-depth extensive research on the Mumbai underworld set a platform for the Bollywood industry and international authors.

Zaidi developed fame and respect as an author after publishing his first book, Black Friday in 2002. The book that dealt with the 1993 Bombay Serial Blasts became the source for Anurag Kashyap’s second directional project with the same title. Popular Bollywood films of the last decade like Phantom, Class of ’83, Shootout at Wadala, and recently Gangubai Kathiawadi are all based on Zaidi’s books.

THE BOOK

Dongri to Dubai is a complete chronicle of the Mumbai mafia. It took six years of research, compilation, verification, and writing the entire material that Zaidi gathered and shaped into a book.

Dongri to Dubai is a favor to all the historophiles who are enthusiastic to go deep in thinking and questioning the origins of the crime that shaped the most powerful syndicate in Mumbai for decades. It is a treasure that the hunters were in quest of while wandering on the mysterious island.

TRINITY

Mumbai and to some extent Karachi are historically the South Asian New Yorks that cultivate a lot of communal and regional backgrounds due to immigration. Dongri to Dubai educated me a lot about the criminal history of Mumbai. It is unusual and geographically diverse.

Decades ago, the Mumbai mafia was ruled by three powerful dons and none of them were Marathis. Two of them were Tamilar and the other was a Pathan, all immigrants.

One arrived in Mumbai with his father from Panankulum when he was eight years old. He worked in a cycle repair shop and earned 5 rupees a day for 12 years. And then worked as a coolie at the dock for three years. Met an Arab sheikh, began smuggling for him, proved his loyalty, became his partner, and during this progress, ruled the South West Mumbai – Mastan Mirza (also known as Haji Mastan).

Haji Mastan

The other came from Vellore where he was an errand boy at a photography studio when he was seven. In Mumbai, he also started as coolie but at a railway station. There he connected with people who were involved in the liquor trade. His progress in the liquor mafia rose to the emergence and soon became the don of Central Mumbai – Sathuvachari Varadarajan Mudaliar (also known as Varda Bhai and Kala Babu).

Varadarajan Mudaliar

And the Pathan came from Peshawar when he was in his mid-twenties. He first started his gambling den. Then he became a moneylender. A Kabuliwallah standing almost 7 feet tall! He became a haunting figure in kicking people out of their residences. Abdul Karim Khan (also known as Karim Lala).

Gangster Karim Lala. *** Local Caption *** Gangster Karim Lala. Express archive photo

THE DON

Although Zaidi writes about many dons and gangsters but ‘Dongri to Dubai’ centrally focuses on the one who outsmarted all the previous dons in the city – Dawood Ibrahim.

I liked the idea of introducing the central character after eight chapters. Zaidi settled the readers to understand the origins of Mumbai crimes and their big daddies before making us read the story of the Godfather.

I wholeheartedly appreciate the effort Zaidi made in the entire research that gave the readers an idea about how the city suffered bloodshed, violence, and heinous crimes when Dawood emerged as the new don. It was as if I wasn’t reading about Don but the script of a film where the leading actor is a don as well as an antihero. Son of an honest policeman, a close friend of a journalist, the failure of his first love affair, a brother brutally murdered by his enemies, a cop assisting him to outdo his rivals, etc.

PATHAN-KASKAR RIVALRY

One of the most captivating aspects of reading this book is the wild enmity between the Pathans of Karim Lala and the Kaskar brothers led by Dawood. It was intense and they were bloodthirsty to dominate each other. Almost half of the book is about this saga. And the continuity is so intriguing that the reader cannot discontinue reading at all. The research of the author indicates that Karim Lala’s goons were bigger trouble than the Kaskars.

BOLLYWOOD

One of the greatest Indian films of all-time, Mani Ratnam’s Nayakan was loosely based on Varadarajan Mudaliar.

I have watched Hindi films all my life and observing the stories of the film centralized on crime action thrillers, I always wondered why this was usually a norm to cash the audience’s money besides romance. If you travel back to the 1950s when that Bollywood phase was considered the golden age, rarely did a film based on crime and action developed for the audience. The crime-action thrillers began to make rounds in the 1960s and more prominently from the 1970s, a trend that shaped the entire existence of the industry.

This change in transition occurred due to the rise of these three dons along with other secondary dons and interesting crime and gang stories that gave the writers and directors some interesting ideas to captivate the audience. Popular films like Zanjeer, Deewar, Shakti, Dayavan, Nayakan, Parinda, Angaar, Satya, Company, Vaastav, Gangster, Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, Shootout At Lokhandwala, Shootout At Wadala, D-Day were all based on real-life gangsters or crimes that happened in Mumbai.

Almost every single don’s origin story followed by interesting minor and major events reminds me of old Bollywood action films of the 1970s and 80s. How much were the directors obsessed with and influenced to make the films for the audience to tell their stories? Thanks to this book that makes me realize that Dilip Kumar–Amitabh Bachchan starrer Shakti is pretty much about Dawood Ibrahim and his father Ibrahim Kaskar who was an honest cop but the former chose the bad side.

The partnership of Inspector Ranbeer Likha and Dawood Ibrahim reminds me of Zanjeer but Pran’s iconic role of Sher Khan was more of Karim Lala. In my further cognizance after reading this book, Aamir Khan’s Ghulam may not have come to anyone’s radar but I think that too was based on Dawood. His brother was killed like Dawood’s own and Sharat Saxena’s villainous muscle character of Ronak Singh was definitely based on Baashu Dada, the wrestler and goon of the Teli Mohalla neighborhood. Ghulam concluded with Ronak badly beaten by Siddhu and running away in humiliation exactly like Dawood and his boys beat Baashu and his gang and made them run away as described in the book.   

Besides the film narrating the life of real gangsters, the book also details the underworld connections with B-town and a few celebrities who suffered consequences like Chota Shakeel financing ‘Chori Chori Chupke Chupke’, Mushir Alam’s kidnapping, Gulshan Kumar’s murder, Monica Bedi running away with Abu Salem, etc. There is one complete chapter on how Mandakini’s career suffered after her pictures with Dawood Ibrahim circulated.

THE PAKISTAN-CONNECTION

The book is divided into two halves. The first half has 35 chapters and the next has 28. The author emphasizes in the latter that Dawood was helped by ISI and Pakistan government in the 1993 Serial Bombings as an act of Muslim revenge on the Hindus demolishing the historic Babri Mosque. Not only did the author connect the dots but he even wrote about his running mafia while living in Karachi after a few years of residing in Dubai. The book also presses that Chota Shakeel and Iqbal Memon were in Karachi with Dawood when they were searching for Chota Rajan around the world.

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS/HIGHLIGHTS IN THE BOOK

There are dozens of moments where Zaidi’s description made me WOW. I will just drop ten unranked moments from the book that are still sharp in my mind.

  1. Meeting of two Tamil dons at the police station.
  2. Dawood and his gang beating Baashu Dada and his pehelwans.
  3. Killing of Iqbal Natiq.
  4. Khaled Pehelwan’s brutality on Ayyub Lala and Saeed Batla.
  5. The rivalry between Ibrahim Dada and Bada Johnny.
  6. Chota Rajan escaping death in Bangkok.
  7. Shootout at Lokhandwala.
  8. Shabir Ibrahim’s murder.
  9. Gulshan Kumar’s murder.
  10. Assembling of all rival gangsters at Haji Mastan’s residence.

CLOSING REMARKS

There is a lot to write about the book and I know the details that I am still missing. But to review this book needs its own book or a documentary. Because the ‘Dongri to Dubai’ saga is written in almost 400 pages and details dozens of stories and I cannot touch each of these in my review.

 The book heavily condemns the failures of the police, the court, and the government. But also describe their efforts to somehow control the crime rate. It was important to inform the readers that if the police failed on some occasions, then the police also played their part in their war against the mafia.

‘Dongri to Dubai’ successfully declares that Dawood indeed is the biggest don of the city. He is irreplaceable due to the social and cultural impact he has set. Readers who are enthusiastic about reading a criminal history of a certain geographic area should read this. Especially if the reader is a hardcore fan of Bollywood films of all ages.  

Now the most complicated argument for a Pakistani reader of ‘Dongri to Dubai’. Where is Dawood? Is he really in Pakistan if not Dubai? Did ISI or the Pakistani government really play their part by partnering with Dawood? It all sounds above the clouds to me.

Several years ago, I tried to read this book twice. First, I read a few chapters but the workload halted my reading progress. Second, I finished almost half of the book and got to know that Dawood is expected to settle in Pakistan. I didn’t make up my mind to read further because, at that time, I felt that the book might turn out to be a fake narration to convince the theory that Dawood is in Karachi and somehow the Pakistan military or the government is involved.

On my third attempt, I finished reading it. And I must admit that a book about the Mumbai underworld requires bullet detailing, a strong narrative, and perspective. And ‘Dongri to Dubai’ is a profitable outcome in the name of research about the criminal history of the city.

From a constable catching some Pathan robbers after the money heist in 1947 to Dawood Ibrahim showing up in Forbes ‘Most Powerful People’ in 2009, Zaidi has covered plenty of crime sagas in almost 400 pages.

See, I have no knowledge about Pakistani terrorism on India’s land and vice versa. There is no peace in fighting wars. A lot of theories can be developed in the historic rivalry between the two countries. But as far as Dawood’s whereabouts are concerned, yes there is a possibility that he may be in Karachi or in any other remote area hiding somewhere or living openly and lavishly. Why not? If Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, and Osama Bin Laden can be found in Pakistan, then why cannot Dawood Ibrahim?

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Political Philosophy

The Rising Of A Failed State (First Part)

1 Comment

Just an opinion as a prelude, when states fail their people, people then fail their states.

The victorious political party has a fixed period of time to win their people’s trust and act on the promises they spoke in their speeches. When the government fails, the nation looks after the other party who can do their work better than the current one. Time passes by, decades crosses, economy goes down and corrupts, the environment pollutes, societies lose morality, rich people invest money on survival, middle and lower classes frustrates and blames, and refuses and abuses, and fights and ignites, and doubts and shouts, and daydreams and screams, and cries and dies.

On the earth, the national deludes but in the grave, the national complains. We are not sophisticated people, we are colonized people. We do not rule, we are ruled. We are a nation who follows and revolves around ‘Cipher’. We are a puppet who is functioned by the other pair of hands. We have been played by the people in the supreme power for more than a century. The power is a supreme authority which can manipulate great minds. So when the extreme power strikes its spell like the beauty attracts to a man, the greatness turns in to greediness. The acts hold wrongdoings clean and cleam. The nation is further deceived and colonized.

A group of people with the right set of mind with an ideal vision in favor of the nation especially the poor are robust against disgust. They struggle without snuggle, raise their voice for change and whisper the hopeless ears that ‘we are the avengers to bring bad people in power to the highest court of justice and punish them, we are the masons to build and hold the broken wall, we are the defenders of solidarity and contributors to prosperity, we are the rescuers of the rights and advocates of the political revolution, and with the nation lost and frost we want to be the reason for the change in nation’s fate and fortune’. It is extremely painful to survive after being repeatedly deceived, the existence with such suffering only waits for the call of Azrael. It is highly likely to build a belief that there is still a helper offering a helping hand to change his/her fate and fortune. With new people in power on the same chairs, there is nothing but hope. And hoping is believing.

POLITICAL TURMOIL

(INTERNATIONAL)

After George W. Bush‘s declaration of War on Terror, things have gone further wrong in Pakistan’s way. With former General Parvez Musharraf joining hands with Bush on War On Terror and making the biggest blunder in Pakistan’s political history in the 21st century, Pakistan achieved nothing but suffered heavy losses physically and economically. The casualties are counted to at least 60,000 people and financial loss of more than a $100 billion in supporting what Bush began. But here is to admit the ugly truth that many of Al-Qaeda biggies were caught from Pakistan including the big bad news, Osama Bin Laden. After all these years of hiding, where was he finally found? In Abbottabad! In a compound which was located less than a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy. And Abbottabad is hardly one hundred kilometers away from the capital. More to the embarrassing mess, according to Bin Laden’s wife, he was living or hiding in that compound for five years! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

(I will additionally recommend the readers to read a very interesting article from the mid-2007 issue of Foreign Affairs, A False Choice In Pakistan by Daniel Markey focusing on post 9/11, War on Terror and policy/relation with Pakistan and Pakistan’s internal issues and conflicts, even dangerously doubting on them if they are the trusted allies of the US.

Also, check another detailed report from the directory of the Federation of American Scientists about the political instability of Pakistan by Alan Kronstadt. This research was published in 2014.)

Pakistan’s further stress towards the motion of building or shaping a political harmony is their relationship with Saudi Arabia and Iran. After decades of the brotherhood with Saudia, Pakistan is observed to be inclined more towards Iran in the recent times. Back in 2015, when the Kingdom called for the military support in the Yemen fight against the Houthis, Pakistan declined to support giving the impression that Iran was backing Pakistan for this. The Houthi rebels are the movement of conflict with the Zaidi ideology of the Shia sect heavily backed financially and militarily by the Iranian government. As per the 2012 report from the US official site, most of Yemen’s 35% Shia population is of Zaidi sect.

Pakistan under the new leadership also has to make an impression with the other Muslim countries that they are not dealing with the devils especially after signing billion dollars energy deals with Qatar and Russia. 5 Arab countries broke the ties with Qatar last year but Pakistan made an agreement with them before in late 2015 worth $16b to provide Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for the next 15 years. With Russia, Pakistan made an agreement of constructing Karachi-Lahore pipeline for the LNG transportation worth $2b also in 2015 and before this agreement, both Pakistan and Russia had signed a defense cooperation deal in late 2014 with Sergey Shoygu becoming the first Russian defense minister to visit Pakistan since 1969. This energy deal was also the countries’ first in 30 years. Knowing the fact that Iran and Russia both were backing Bashar al-Assad in the war crimes against his own people, Pakistan still went for it. From September 2015 onwards, Russia began heavily bombing in Syria.

Pakistan being a Sunni-dominated country has a 20% Shia population which disembarks them from the ground neutralities. The country would have to be someone’s proxy in the unwanted war. When Saudi Arabia launched Islamic Military Alliance (IMA) in December that year, 34 countries were involved which stretched to 41 later. All the participating countries were Sunni-dominated countries including Pakistan. With that understanding, all the Shia-dominating countries including Iran were not the part of it. To avoid the situation get worse, Pakistan hosted Iranian president Hassan Rouhani after a few months to reassure that Tehran is not an anti-Shia body. Saudia later on appointed the-then retiring Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Raheel Sharif as the commander of the IMA.

(NATIONAL)

With Pakistan already suffering from the international politics, the country lost its accountability in the province of Balochistan. The insurgency by the Baloch Nationalists against the government is decades old but the recent phase of the growing tensions began from 2005 when Shazia Khalid was raped at the Sui Gas facility. It is widely believed that she was raped by an army officer but when Parvez Musharraf declared on the state channel that the culprit in the army uniform is not guilty, Nawab Bugti led the violent uprising. Years passed but the fight didn’t stop.

Besides, a ruinous political unrest was witnessed in past few years. The Model Town Tragedy of 2014 badly affected the reputation of the governing body with the police killing several Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) protestors. Media broadcasters aired the shocking footages of a vandal, Gullu Butt, smashing windscreens of many parked vehicles by using a club and strangely leading the police squad attack the protestors. Furthermore, he was seen hugged by Tariq Aziz, SP of the same area. Butt was later arrested and then bailed out prompting heavy condemnation of both PAT and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Tariq Aziz was later promoted as SSP Discipline and Inquiry in Lahore police HQ after Butt was bailed out. The-then Law Minister of Punjab, Rana Sanaullah, defended the police operation.

On the other hand, after no response from the government on the demand of probe of election fraud in four constituencies for 14 months and no response from the supreme court despite fraud allegation from the additional secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan Afzal Khan, Imran Khan accused Nawaz Sharif of rigged elections and led a massive anti-government protest called Azadi March beginning from 14th Aug to the next 126 days. The slogan ‘Go Nawaz Go‘ went popular nationwide and among the Pakistani communities living across the globe from this event. But the use of this slogan dropped many cents of morality among the few anti-government lobbies that some of the pilgrims from Pakistan chanted the slogan during the pilgrimage and in the two holy cities.

THE DISTURBED GEOGRAPHY

Pakistan being one of the most insecure geographical places for the outsiders and one of the suffering regions by terrorism, met severe tragedies in the last few years indicating that the country has been under alarming target by the terrorist organizations. Among the few to mention and reflect the level of security crisis; Karachi airport was attacked by 10 militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and 36 people were killed back in 2014. Imagine the security situation of Pakistan’s other domestic and international airports when the country’s largest and busiest airport met this unfortunate event!

Sectarian clashes in the country have met tremendous hatred and grown concerns despite reinstating brotherhood for umpteenth times. The Afghan gunmen from Jundallah killed at least 45 Ismaili Shia passengers during open firing inside the bus in Karachi in 2015.

The shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar has been one of the most significant historic sites where a million visitors show up every year. Last year, a suicide attack (believed to be orchestrated by ISIL) killed at least 90 people and injured 300 others during the Sufi ritual after the evening prayer.

Months later, a series of terror attacks by ISIL and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar resulted in 96 casualties collectively in three different cities on the same day. In 2016, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar were also responsible for killing at least 75 and injuring more than 300 people in Lahore’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park. The motive behind this terrorism was to kill the Christians who were celebrating Catholic Easter on that very day.

But the biggest tragedy amongst all the terror attacks was the Peshawar School Massacre when six gunmen affiliated with Tehrik-I-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacked the Army Public School by open firing on the school staff and children between the age range of 8 and 18. 149 people including 132 school children were killed that day becoming the world’s fourth deadliest school massacre ever. This event ripped me because this fact just couldn’t accept digest me or accept my mind that a terrorist can open fire on children. I wish the murderers rot in hell, Amen.

DIGGING KUFR

Safeguarding the minority community has also been the talking point in Pakistan especially after the War on Terror. Also, the minorities have been socially ill-treated and there have been cases of church attacks, burning temples and killing them.

Minorities, who comprised 23% of Pakistan’s population back in 1947 which has now dropped to 4% in recent years, have been in remote position due to non-acceptance, unrecognition or intolerance by the Muslims in the surroundings everywhere. The case of the non-Muslim communities of both Hindu and Christian faith are highly sensitive. The Hindus in Pakistan in the early 90s had to suffer the wrath after the historic Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India was demolished by a large group of Hindu Kar Sevaks in 1992. In retaliation, more than two dozen temples were destroyed in one single day in Pakistan. Hardly two dozen of the temples for the Hindus remain in the country.

The Christian community has also suffered a series of setbacks in recent years. Over 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by the mobs in Gojra back in 2009. But a few months before the 2013 general elections, a twin suicide-bomb blast killed over 100 people and almost 250 injured at All Saints Church in Peshawar. Two years later, Lahore witnessed a bombing each at two different churches on the same day killing at least 15 people.

The case of the Ahmadi community is also very sensitive and plasters a dark and controversial image in Pakistan. Unnecessary to detail them but the community who were the advocates of Pakistan Movement, who supported Jinnah’s Muslim League for the establishment of a new Islamic state, who were one of the most prosperous and educated people after the independence, were victimized and targeted of their beliefs and killed in heavy numbers in 1953 and 1974. 2013 onwards, numerous events have crossed of their deaths. If the transgender can get their rights, why not Ahmadis? Because of their belief? As Imran Khan has given his support to the blasphemy law but the treatment of Ahmadis in the new hands of changing politics will be a sensitive observation.

RAPES AND HONOR KILLINGS

No nation can progress whose government is not able to protect and safeguard the women and children. This decade has met unfortunate events of honor killings and rapes, most of these occurring in the Punjab province. More than 70% of violence against women in Pakistan in 2014 occurred in Punjab with almost 30% increase in the cases registered Punjab as compared to those registered in 2013. In 2015, 1100 women were murdered in the name of honor. The Human Right Commission of Pakistan has listed more than 450 cases in 2017.

Alas, honor killings, unfortunately, is a tradition in Pakistan running for centuries. Elders of the family actually kill their women if she doesn’t obey and accept the marriage proposals, or find her speaking to a man, or committed with someone. There have been so many cases. I was shell-shocked when, in 2008, the three teenagers were buried alive by their Umrani tribe for choosing their own husbands, the politician Israr Ullah Zehri defended the honor killings in an open national parliament and willed to continue.

Most of the rape cases came to the attention from the rural areas where the local village council itself ordered the women to be raped. Yes, you read it right, rape order direct from the council. What eats my brain is that why and how the village cases have not come under scrutiny, why the women in rural areas are still the targets of rapes and honor killings? Four years ago, one village council ordered the gang rape in Muzaffargarh district, that was the very district where Bibi Mukhtaran was gang-raped back in 2002. So what changed there? Nothing.

January of this year observed a few rape cases of under 18, the most infamous being Zainab Ansari’s rape and death who was only 6 or 7 years old. A 3-year-old girl, Asma, was raped and murdered in Mardan.

With the ruling parties changing in the National and Punjab Assembly, many human rights organizations will have a careful observation on the number of cases reported, registered and the treatment towards the women and children during this tenure.

(Sincerely thanks for reading. This blog will be continued in the next and final part publishing soon.)