Incidents of violence and harassment, fuelled by hypernationalism, have been on the rise in the week following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack. On February 22 evening, a mob outside a Karachi Bakery outlet in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar demanded the name of the bakery to be changed and forced the bakery to cover the word “Karachi”
Karachi Bakery was founded by Sindhi immigrant Khanchand Ramani in 1953 who settled in Hyderabad after the partition. It has since expanded, and has several outlets all over the country. Matters slipped out of hand when a group of around twenty unidentified people gathered outside the bakery late last evening in protest of its name after a Pakistani city.
The mob refused to disperse after several requests. The bakery manager then covered the word “Karachi” and displayed the India flag to pacify the situation. Soon after the crowd dispersed and there was no violence.
According to a report in The News Minute, the branch manager said that men who were part of the mob claimed to “know people in the army”. “They thought we are from Pakistan. But we have been using this name for the last 53 years. The owners are Hindus; only the name is Karachi bakery. To satisfy them, we put up the Indian flag,” The News Minute quoted the manager as saying.
As per a report in Scroll, other Bengaluru outlets of Karachi Bakery have been receiving threatening calls since February 17. The groups making these calls have demanded that the firm should change its name or shut down the business, the report said, adding that the employees at the company’s Mahadevapura outlet said that they had complained to the police about the calls as well.
Upset Twitterati came down heavily on development and expressed their anguish.
Karachi Bakery was started by a man from Sindh named Khanchand Ramnani, who settled in Hyderabad after Partition….but what do illiterate vigilantes unleashed by the Sangh Parivar know about being refugees and losing the place that is home https://t.co/4JGlkJW1q6
— anjali mody (@AnjaliMody1) February 22, 2019
Bohra gayein hain log. Now attacking our own! https://t.co/RAllfZNpcR
— Nistula Hebbar (@nistula) February 23, 2019
My Q to the FAKE PATRIOTS who forcibly got the name #Karachi erased from #KarachiBakery in #Bengaluru:
Will you – and the party you support – now put pressure on #Modi Govt to delete SINDH from India's National Anthem because all of Sindh is now in #Pakistan? #HoshNotJosh
1/2 pic.twitter.com/l6sDQqqad0— Sudheendra Kulkarni (@SudheenKulkarni) February 23, 2019
https://twitter.com/IThelogica/status/1099171263585574912
It is interesting to note that there are several shops in Pakistan named after Indian cities. Pakistani journalist Shiraz Hassan, soon after the incident, shared an old piece where he wrote about such shops. “You will find Amritsari, Jalandhari and Ludhiana named halwai shops in almost every city of Pakistan,” tweeted Hassan.
Regarding #KarachiBakery fuss, I wrote a piece about businesses in #Pakistan named after Indian cities: https://t.co/YoPfeYpkgu
— Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) February 23, 2019
Delhi Dehi bhalle, Ambala Sari House, Shimla hardwares, Delhi Optical Co. #Rawalpindi #Pakistan. Just FYI, @KanchanGupta ji! pic.twitter.com/6QhyuoeYGH
— Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) February 23, 2019
Also read: Pune: Journalist From Kashmir Beaten Up