This chapter will capture the moment when the Dewan Group, once one of Pakistan's largest industrial conglomerates, stood at the edge of irrelevance. It will explore:
Real history and facts: Dewan Group's collapse across cement, autos, banking, and textiles by late 2010s–early 2020s.
Scenes with dialogues: boardrooms, courts, press conferences, and intimate family conversations.
Tone: reflective, almost elegiac — showing that while industries can be rebuilt, eras of trust and dominance once lost rarely return.
Theme: Was this truly the "end" of the Dewan era, or just another chapter in a longer story of survival?
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In 1998, Business Recorder called Dewan Group "Pakistan's rising titan." By 2020, the same paper ran the headline: "From Titans to Troubled: The Long Fall of the Dewan Empire."
The contrast was not just journalistic exaggeration; it reflected a truth that had settled into the public mind. For decades, the Dewan name commanded awe. By the early 2020s, it commanded mostly pity—or disdain.
But was it truly the end of the Dewan era, or merely a pause in the long, turbulent story of Pakistani business families?
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Scene 1: The Empty Boardroom
At Dewan House in Karachi, the once-grand boardroom told its own story. Chairs that had once been filled with bankers, politicians, and foreign investors now stood empty. Files piled on the long mahogany table, untouched.
Son 1 (quietly):
"Father, this boardroom used to be alive with deals. Today, we cannot even gather five people for a meeting."
Yousuf Dewan (sighing):
"The measure of an empire is not in how many sit at your table, but in how many still remember you sat at all."
The words, though poetic, felt hollow in the silence of the empty room.
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Scene 2: Cement — Once Solid, Now Fragile
At Dewan Cement's Karachi office, an internal meeting reviewed the financials.
Executive:
"Production is down. Competition from Lucky and DG Khan Cement is too strong. Our market share has fallen below 6%. Even our plants are running at half capacity."
Manager:
"Sir, the bankers say they will not extend credit lines without restructuring. They do not trust us anymore."
The cement sector, once Dewan's foundation, was now little more than a fragile shell.
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Scene 3: Autos — The Dream That Died Twice
In Hyderabad, the DFML plant stood silent again. Rust gathered on machinery that had once assembled Shehzore trucks.
A former worker showed a journalist around.
"Here we made history. The Shehzore was everywhere in Pakistan. But look now—dead machines, broken promises."
The journalist asked:
"Do you believe DFML can ever return?"
The worker laughed bitterly.
"Sir, when the public loses trust, no company can return. Even if they launch again, who will buy?"
The auto dream, once Dewan's pride, had died not once but twice.
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Scene 4: Banking — The Blacklist
In 2019, the State Bank of Pakistan once again listed Dewan among its major defaulters. The newspapers splashed figures of unpaid loans, billions owed across HBL, NBP, UBL, and MCB.
At HBL's head office, a senior banker remarked during a meeting:
"Gentlemen, let this be a lesson. Once, we gave Dewan blank cheques. Today, they are a case study in risk."
Another banker replied:
"And yet, politically connected families always find a way back. The real losers are taxpayers."
The Dewan name, once associated with industrial might, was now shorthand for default.
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Scene 5: The Court Battles
In Sindh High Court, lawyers argued over Dewan Group's restructuring. Creditors demanded liquidation; the family demanded time.
Lawyer for NBP:
"My Lord, the defendants have defaulted repeatedly. They seek delay, not resolution. The banks cannot bleed forever."
Dewan's Lawyer:
"My Lord, these are not ordinary defaulters. They are industrialists who built this country's factories. Should their legacy be destroyed overnight?"
The judge listened, weary. For years, the same arguments had echoed in Pakistan's courts.
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Scene 6: The Public Voice
In Karachi's tea shops, Lahore's drawing rooms, and Hyderabad's bazaars, the public spoke of Dewan with bitterness.
Shopkeeper in Saddar:
"They took our money, our trust, and gave us broken cars."
Retired banker in Lahore:
"In the 90s, I approved Dewan loans. They had vision, courage. But vision without discipline is disaster."
Worker in Hyderabad:
"My father worked in their factory. He lost his job. Now people curse the name."
Once admired, the Dewans were now the subject of street gossip, a warning to younger businessmen.
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Scene 7: A Family Divided
At a family dinner, tensions boiled.
Son 2 (angrily):
"We must sell what is left! Cement, land, everything. End the humiliation."
Son 1 (defensive):
"No! Selling is surrender. We must fight for revival."
Yousuf Dewan (weary):
"Stop. You think this is about factories or land. This is about trust. Without it, nothing survives. Not cement, not cars, not banks. We lost trust. That is our real loss."
The silence after his words was heavy with truth.
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Scene 8: Political Abandonment
In Islamabad, once-friendly politicians now kept their distance.
A senior PTI minister was overheard telling a colleague:
"Why should we defend Dewan? They are finished. Public hates them, banks hate them. Supporting them would be political suicide."
The patronage that once protected Dewan was gone.
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Scene 9: A Journalist's Reflection
In 2021, Dawn ran a feature: "The Fall of the Dewan Empire: Lessons in Overreach."
It concluded:
"Empires fall not only because of enemies but because of the cracks within. The Dewans over-expanded, over-borrowed, and underestimated the value of public trust. Their story is not just theirs—it is Pakistan's story of flawed industrial growth."
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Scene 10: A Man and His Legacy
One night, Yousuf sat alone in his Clifton home. On his desk lay two photographs: one of the first Shehzore truck rolling out in 1998, another of the DFML plant shuttered in 2019.
He whispered to himself:
"Is this the end of an era? Or will they one day remember us not for how we fell, but for what we built?"
His words hung in the air, unanswered.
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Closing Reflection
The Dewan Group's decline was not just the story of one family—it was a mirror of Pakistan's fragile industrial ecosystem. Built on loans, political ties, and public trust, it collapsed when those ties broke and that trust evaporated.
And yet, in Pakistan, no era truly ends. Families reinvent, industries reemerge, fortunes rise again.
The question remained: Was this truly the end of the Dewan era—or just another painful chapter in a longer saga?