Mumbai's Karachi Bakery to shut down; Won't succumb to threats, say owners

Mumbai: The Karachi Bakery, which faces threats from various organisations, including Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), demanding a change in the Pakistani name, is shutting its Mumbai branch. Reports say that the allegations by MNS that the name belongs to Pakistan fell the bakery's business and led to shutting down.

Meanwhile, the bakery owner responded that they are shutting down because the lease agreement with the building owner expired. The building owner has increased the rent, which the bakery cannot pay. The falling business also accounts for the shutting down, bakery manager Rameshwar Waghmare told The Times of India.

On Wednesday, MNS leader Haji Saif Shaikh had tweeted, claiming the close down as their victory. The tweet claims that the strong protest against the bakery's name forced it to shutdown. Responding to the tweet, Rameshwar said that the bakery functions with all the required documents and licenses, and there is no reason to surrender by changing the name. If the protesters' wish to, they could take the credit, but the bakery's decision is based on trade reasons, he added.

The Shiv Sena leader Nitin Gaonkar also had demanded the 'Karachi Bakery' to change its name. Gaonkar demanded that the bakery choose a Marathi name over the Pakistan city's name. A video showing Gaonkar threatening the shop manager at Bandra west had gone viral on social media. Following the controversy, the owners had covered the name on the building with paper. Later, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut clarified that the name has nothing to do with Pakistan and calling for its change is not the party's official stand. Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam had pointed out that the protest against the name is Shiv Sena's foolishness.

Sri Khanchand Ramnani of the Sindhi-Hindu family, who migrated from Karachi to Hyderabad during the partition of 1947, founded the Karachi Bakery. It started business in the Moazzam Jahi Market.