The years old Karachi Bakery in Maharashtra has been shut down.
The closure of the shop came recently after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Haji Saif Shaikh sent a legal notice to the owner of Mumbai’s Karachi Bakery asking him to remove “Karachi” from the name. In November 2020 Mr. Shaikh sent the notice.
On the 1st of March, Haji Saif Shaikh took to his Twitter handle and said, “After massive protest on Karachi Bakery for its name Karachi by MNS, Karachi Bakery finally closes its only shop in Mumbai.”
Haji Saif Shaikh’s tweet:
After massive protest on Karachi Bakery for its name #Karachi led by Vice President of MNS – @mnshajisaif karachi bakery finally closes its only shop in Mumbai.@RajThackeray Saheb@mnsadhikrut @karachi_bakery
However, Sandeep Despande, another MNS leader, said this was not the party’s official line.
Two days after the tweet went viral, many other social media users and Twitteratis contradicted the claims of the MNS leader. A Twitter handle with the name Mumbai North Central District Forum said, “False spreading of information! The Karachi Bakery has shut its store due to lack of business and not because of @mnshajisaif, nothing more than a failed attempt to mislead citizens. Please note!”
Even the shop manager, Rameshwar Waghmare also dismissed Mr. Shaikh’s claims. He said, “We shut shop after the old lease agreement lapsed. Our landlord had been demanding a higher sum as rent which was unviable for us. The lockdown had already caused business volumes to drop.” He further added, “There was no reason to capitulate by changing our name. The bakery was a legitimate business with all valid licences and approvals. Our decision is based on business factors. Let others take credit for it if they wish.”
According to the sources, the Maharashtra Government also refused to be involved in the matter.
Sanjay Raut, a leader of the Shiv Sena, the ruling Government of Maharashtra, said, “Karachi Bakery and Karachi Sweets have been in Mumbai since the last 60 years. They have nothing to do with Pakistan. It makes no sense to ask for changing their names now. Demand for changing their name is not Shivsena’s official stance.”
Meanwhile, the Ramnani Management is mulling over if they would rent another space and reopen Karachi Bakery or the operation would be permanently closed in Mumbai.
The closure of the years old Karachi Bakery left the Mumbai people sad. Twitter is flooded with messages expressing grief over the closure of the shops.
Tweets with #KarachiBakery #Karachi #MNS are flooded on Twitter.
The bakery in Mumbai was a branch of the Hyderabad-based chain, which has shops across several cities including Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru etc. The famous Karachi Bakery is owned by the Sindhi Hindu Ramnani Family. The family came to India during Partition. The Karachi Bakery was founded in 1953.
