MUMBAI: The owner of Mumbai’s iconic Karachi Sweets was forced to cover Nandgaokar cover the word ‘Karachi’ with newspaper, after Shiv Sena leader Nitin Nandgaonkar seemingly threatened him to change the name of the shop.
As a video of showing Nandgaokar asking the Karachi Sweets owner to change the name of the outlet went viral, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had to step in to control the damage. The Sena spokesperson tweeted that the demand for changing the name of Karachi Bakery had nothing to do with the party.
The AAP too condemned the blatant ‘dadagiri’ of the Sena. Nandgaonkar must apologize immediately, it demanded.
In the viral video, Nandgaokar is purportedly heard saying to the owner to consider a Marathi name of his shop. “Karachi is placed in Pakistan so it should not be used here in Mumbai. I will give you time to change the name of your shop. We will not tolerate Pakistan name in Mumbai,” Nandgaonkar is heard telling the shop owner.
The shop owner is heard pleading to Nandgaonkar that his forefather hailed from Pakistan and they had relocated in India after Partition. “You can keep your forefather’s name or any Marathi name but not the Pakistani city,” the Sena leader responded.
With social media going abuzz over the clip, Raut condemned Nangaonkar for his act and asserted that Karachi Bakery and Karachi Sweets is in Mumbai and other parts of India for 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,” he tweeted. Taking cue from Nandgaokar, the Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena also jumped into the controversy and demanded the same.