The ruling Shiv Sena found itself in an embarrassing situation on Thursday, as one of its activists Nitin Nandgaonkar ordered the owner of the famous sweets shop “Karachi Sweets” at Bandra (west) in north-west Mumbai to change the establishment’s name from “Karachi” to some Marathi name.
However, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut nipped the brewing controversy by disassociating the party from Nandgaonkar’s act through a tweet.
“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 Shiv Sena's official stance,” Raut tweeted.
Raut’s tweet came after a video put out by Nandgaonkar showing him ordering the owner of “Karachi Sweets” shop at Bandra (west) to either change the name or remove the word “Karachi” from the shop’s name and replace it with some Marathi name, went viral in the social media.
In the video, Nandgaonkar is heard telling the “Karachi Sweets” shop owner: “In Mumbai and Maharashtra, there cannot be any shop with Karchi. Having the word `Karachi' in the name of the shop gives an impression that you are supporting Karachi and Pakistan from where the terrorist activities are planned against India. Our soldiers are killed because of Pakistan’s activities. ... If you want to be in Maharashtra, the word Karachi has no place”.
“We are not bothered if you are a Hindu or Muslim… The name Karachi is a problem, and you cannot use it here… It is a place of terrorism and no business should be carried in the name of Karachi,” Nandgaonkar told the shop owner.
“You may have migrated from Pakistan after partition, but do not make Karachi part of the shop’s name. I am ready to give you some time. I will come back after a fortnight and check... You either change the name of your stores or remove the word `Karachi’ from the name,” Nandgaonkar told the shop owner.
Nandgaonkar – who incidentally is a former activist of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) --also offered to help the shop owner in taking up with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and completing the name changing formalities. “But, you should realise that we have a problem with word `Karachi’
Incidentally, there are other very old shops and establishments named after ‘Karachi’ and ‘Lahore’ in Mumbai, Pune and some other cities of Maharashtra, which indicate that the owners belong to the families that migrated to India after partition.
Through his polite but stern warning, Nandgaonkar sought to send a message across other shops named after “Karachi” in the metropolis and other parts of the state that it is essential to change the name.