Real characters: Dewan Mohammad Yousuf Farooqui, bankers (Ali Raza – NBP, Shaukat Tarin, etc.), regulators (Dr. Shamshad Akhtar – SBP), politicians (Shaukat Aziz, Nawaz Sharif camp), journalists (Talat Hussain, Zaffar Abbas).
The year 2009 opened with heavy clouds over Karachi's business landscape. For the Dewan Group, what had once been an empire of ambition was now a bleeding giant. Newspapers screamed headlines about defaults, creditors circled, regulators pressed harder, and rival business families smirked at the downfall of the once "too big to fail" conglomerate. But inside the marble walls of Dewan House, the family and its executives refused to surrender. They called it a phase—a storm that could be weathered. And so began an era of frantic damage control.
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Scene One – The Crisis Committee
It was a humid March evening in Karachi when Dewan Mohammad Yousuf Farooqui convened a special meeting. The Dewan House conference room was filled with senior executives: Batool Qureshi (Head of PR), Ahsan Mehmood (CFO), Danish Farooqui (nephew handling cement operations), and outside advisors including lawyer S.M. Zafar and PR strategist Javed Jabbar, the media veteran known for his clever messaging.
Stacks of newspapers lay on the table, each carrying grim headlines:
"DEWAN GROUP'S RS 40 BILLION DEBT CRISIS" – Business Recorder
"FROM STEEL TO DEBT: THE FALL OF A TITAN" – Dawn
"POLITICS, FAVORITISM, AND LOANS: THE DEWAN STORY" – Geo News
Yousuf slammed the table. "They are killing us in the press. Every day, another hit. They make it look like we are criminals, not businessmen. This empire gave jobs to tens of thousands, paid billions in taxes, brought foreign brands into Pakistan. Yet one bad cycle and we are the villains."
Batool spoke firmly, flipping through her notes. "Sir, the narrative is against us because the rivals have gotten ahead. Lucky Cement's PR machine is whispering in journalists' ears. The Sharifs want revenge for your ties with Musharraf. Even Indus Motors is happy Hyundai is struggling under us. We need a counter-narrative—fast."
Lawyer S.M. Zafar adjusted his glasses. "And not just in media. The banks are preparing suits. The State Bank is tightening. If we don't negotiate, they'll drag us into bankruptcy court."
Yousuf looked around the table. "So what do we do? Damage control. We fight on two fronts: in the press and in the banks. We don't let the Dewan name be reduced to rubble."
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Scene Two – The Bankers' War Room
At the NBP headquarters, CEO Ali Raza gathered representatives from HBL, UBL, Bank of Punjab, and MCB. The agenda: Dewan debt restructuring.
Ali Raza opened: "The group owes over Rs. 40 billion. Each of us is exposed. The auto division has collapsed, cement exports are weak, and Dewan Salman Fibre is effectively dead. The family is lobbying the government to save them. What's our stance?"
A representative from MCB, linked to the Mian Mansha group, smirked. "Simple. Force asset sales. Why should we throw more money after bad debts? The Dewans played politics, now let them pay the price."
The Bank of Punjab officer countered: "Yes, but liquidation hurts us too. If their plants are sold at distress value, recovery will be peanuts. Better to restructure, get them back on their feet, and at least recover gradually."
Ali Raza sighed. "I met Yousuf Dewan last week. He pleaded for time, promised foreign investors from Korea were still interested. But the truth is, Hyundai has suspended shipments. No foreigner trusts them now. Still… politically, we cannot be seen as pushing the button that kills thousands of jobs. The optics are bad."
The bankers agreed to form a consortium restructuring committee. But beneath their polished words, the rivalry of Pakistan's business elite dictated every move.
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Scene Three – Islamabad Lobbying
In Islamabad, Yousuf Dewan arrived at the Prime Minister's Secretariat. Musharraf was gone; now a fragile PPP government under Yousuf Raza Gillani held office, with Asif Ali Zardari as President.
Gillani received him politely. "Mr. Dewan, we know your contributions. But the truth is, the country is broke. IMF is breathing down our neck. We cannot openly bail you out."
Yousuf leaned forward. "Prime Minister sahib, I am not asking for bailouts. Only for fair treatment. Extend our loans. Give us working capital. If we collapse, cement exports, auto jobs, and the stock exchange will all suffer."
Gillani nodded vaguely. "Talk to Shaukat Tarin. He's the new Finance Minister. He knows banking. If anyone can design a package, it's him."
Later that evening, Yousuf met Shaukat Tarin, himself a former banker and close to the MCB circle. Tarin listened carefully but was blunt.
"Yousuf bhai, with all respect, the numbers don't lie. Your empire is overleveraged. The banks have lost patience. Politically, I cannot justify special favors when the whole country is under IMF conditions. But—if you show me a credible restructuring plan, asset sales, cost cuts—maybe we can persuade the banks."
For the first time, Yousuf realized: Islamabad would no longer bend automatically. The Musharraf-era backchannels were gone.
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Scene Four – PR Firefight
Meanwhile, Batool Qureshi and Javed Jabbar launched a media counter-offensive.
Op-eds appeared in Dawn and The News: "Industrial Pioneers Deserve Support, Not Scorn" and "Dewan Group – A National Asset at Risk."
On Geo's Capital Talk, Yousuf Dewan himself appeared opposite anchor Hamid Mir.
Hamid Mir: "Mr. Dewan, the perception is that your group took billions in loans due to political favoritism and failed to repay. Why should the people sympathize?"
Yousuf leaned forward, his tone impassioned. "Hamid sahib, we did not run away with money. We built factories, jobs, exports. Yes, we are in trouble, but so is every industry after the global crash. The difference is, our scale makes us a target. I ask the people of Pakistan: do you want to see local industry die, leaving only foreign imports? Or do you want to protect Pakistani brands that dare to dream?"
The clip went viral, softening some of the anger. But rivals quickly countered. Business Recorder published leaks of bank memos showing Dewan Group had defaulted on multiple interest payments, despite luxury spending by executives.
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Scene Five – Family Fractures
Damage control wasn't just external; it was internal. Within the Dewan family, divisions grew sharper.
At one heated family council, Dewan Mushtaq demanded asset sales. "Sell the cement plants. Sell the idle textile mills. Save what we can. Pride will not pay the debts."
But Yousuf roared back: "No! Those assets are our crown jewels. You want me to hand them to Lucky or Mansha for pennies? Over my dead body."
A younger nephew, Danish, tried to mediate. "Chacha, if we don't sacrifice something, we lose everything. The banks will strip us anyway."
The argument ended with slammed doors. The cracks in the family mirrored the cracks in the empire.
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Scene Six – Regulators Strike
At State Bank, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar pressed forward. SBP issued fresh circulars limiting bank exposure to overleveraged groups. Though not named, everyone knew Dewan was the prime target.
At a Karachi dinner, Shamshad told a senior journalist: "Industrialists must learn discipline. The days of unchecked borrowing are gone. If Dewan cannot survive under proper banking rules, then so be it."
The journalist replied knowingly: "But madam, the fall of a titan makes headlines. Are you ready for the backlash?"
Shamshad smiled thinly. "Better headlines now than a banking collapse tomorrow."
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Scene Seven – Behind Closed Doors
In late 2009, the consortium of banks met Dewan representatives at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi.
Ali Raza (NBP) spoke sharply: "Gentlemen, your outstanding is Rs. 40 billion. We cannot carry this indefinitely. What do you offer?"
CFO Ahsan Mehmood laid out a plan: partial asset sales, debt rescheduling, and fresh working capital against cement exports.
MCB's representative scoffed. "Fairy tales. You promise exports every year, yet deliveries are missed. The truth is, the empire is finished."
Yousuf interjected angrily: "Finished? We are still the largest cement producers after Lucky. We can still bounce back. Don't write our obituary yet."
The room buzzed with arguments late into the night. No deal was struck.
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Scene Eight – A Whispered Scandal
As Dewan fought for survival, whispers emerged of a secret NAB inquiry. Reporters claimed NAB was reviewing whether Dewan Group's loans had been inflated by political pressure under Musharraf's regime.
One leaked memo, allegedly from 2006, showed a Finance Ministry note recommending "special consideration" for Dewan due to its "strategic importance."
On a late-night talk show, anchor Talat Hussain asked bluntly:
"Is the Dewan crisis a business failure—or a political scandal waiting to explode?"
The damage control team now had a bigger fire to put out.
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Epilogue of the Chapter
By 2010, the Dewan Group was staggering, but not yet dead. Its executives fought bankers, regulators, rivals, and even family divisions—all under the banner of "damage control." The group's PR offensive kept its name alive, its lobbying bought time, but its debts remained crushing.
For Pakistan's business world, the spectacle was both a warning and a lesson: no titan, however mighty, was immune to the reckoning of overreach, politics, and economic storms.
Yousuf Dewan still told allies:
"A Dewan never surrenders. As long as we fight, the empire still breathes."
But in hushed voices, even his closest men admitted—the damage was deep, perhaps irreversible.
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