Indians have problem with ‘Karachi’ Bakery, Pakistanis none with Ambala Sweets

In the wake of vandals threatening an outlet of Karachi Bakery in Indira Nagar, Bengaluru to hide the name Karachi, Pakistanis have been quick to point out that they have had no problem with ‘Bombay Bakery’ in Karachi!

Not just Bombay Bakery but Karachi residents point out that the Pakistani city also has outlets named after several other Indian cities. Madras Bakery, Ambala Sweets, Delhi Nihari, Bombay Chowpatty and Meerath Kebab House are some of the outlets named in a tweet.

The same Twitter user from Karachi pointed out that several jewellery stores in the Pakistani city are also named after Indian cities. From Calcutta Jewellers to Goan jewelers to Gujarat Jewellers, owned by Memons from Gujarat, all bear the names of Indian cities.

Several localities in Karachi are also named Guru Mandir, Nanak Wara, Madrasi Para and Ramswami, they pointed out. And despite three wars with India, nobody in Pakistan has had any objection to these names.

Other Pakistanis soon joined in the discussion and pointed out that Lahore has an outlet named as ‘Amritsari Sweets’ and ‘Shimla Bakers’. Gujranwala has an outlet named ‘Jalandhar Sweets’ while Faisalabad has not only ‘Batala Sweets’ but even Islamabad had a restaurant named ‘House of Bombay’, which had to close shop though because it was operating in a residential complex.

Indians also condemned the incident in Bengaluru.

As many as nine of the vandals who stormed Karachi Bakery in Bengaluru’s Indira Nagar were rounded up by the police after identifying them from CCTV footage. They claimed to be Indian patriots who were giving vent to their anti-Pakistan feelings following the Pulwama terror attack on February 25, in which 45 CRPF jawans were killed.

The employees at the bakery sought to explain that it was an Indian enterprise that was launched over 66 years ago by a Sindhi, Hindu refugee. But the belligerent group of 20 odd people demanded an explanation for the ‘Pakistani connection’ and asked if the outlet had Muslim employees.

The abusive mob, however, were in no mood to listen to the history of the enterprise. They dispersed only after they covered up ‘Karachi’ on the signboard and forced the outlet to put up an Indian flag.

Karachi Bakery was founded in 1953 by Khanchand Ramnani. In 1947, during the partition of India, Ramani moved to Hyderabad. Now run by his grandchildren, the Karachi Bakery is based in Hyderabad, Telangana and has outlets across the country.

The bakery was forced to tweet and explain its position.