Protest held outside Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad demanding name change

Hyderabad | A group of people held a protest in front of a Karachi Bakery outlet here, demanding that the name be changed, police said on Sunday.

Around 10-15 members, holding the tricolour and wearing saffron scarves, gathered in front of the Karachi Bakery store at Shamshabad on Saturday afternoon and raised "anti-Pakistan slogans".

The protesters then allegedly tried to damage the outlet's nameboard by hitting it with sticks. They were subsequently dispersed by the police.

In a video circulated on social media on Sunday, the nameboard was seen partially covered with a cloth.

"The protest was held by 10-15 people on Saturday afternoon, demanding that Karachi Bakery change its name," a police official at the RGI Airport police station said.

A complaint was lodged against the protesters, accusing them of obstructing customers by staging the protest in front of the outlet, he added.

The promoters of the city-based bakery chain had earlier clarified that they are a "100 per cent Indian brand", after certain groups demanded a name change, citing its association with a city in Pakistan.

A protest was also held last week in Visakhapatnam, with similar demands to change Karachi Bakery’s name amid conflicts between India and the neighbouring country.

Police personnel were deployed near one of the bakery’s branches in Hyderabad on May 7 as a preventive measure, after a leader of a right-wing organisation posted a video on social media demanding the name be changed, or else they would do it themselves.

Karachi Bakery promoters Rajesh Ramnani and Harish Ramnani said the brand was established in Hyderabad in 1953 by their grandfather Khanchand Ramnani, who migrated to India from Pakistan during partition.

They also appealed to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the DGP, and the police to help them retain Karachi Bakery’s brand identity and prevent any forced name change.

Earlier, the tricolour was also displayed above the nameboards of their outlets in the city.