Amid the surge of patriotic sentiment following Operation Sindoor and war clouds between India and Pakistan, the popular Hyderabad fruit biscuit brand Karachi Bakery landed in trouble. As the name itself reflects a popular city of Pakistan, many patriotic Indians are mistaken it belongs to Pakistani Muslims and resort to protests.
As a result, the family behind Karachi Bakery and its many franchise owners across Hyderabad and other cities are landing in trouble. On Tuesday, some enthusiastic Hindu Vahini activists, who were overcome by patriotic sentiments due to the Pahalgam incident, had attacked the renowned Karachi Bakery in Visakhapatnam.
Wayback in 2019, following the Pulwama attack, a Karachi Bakery outlet in Bengaluru faced massive protests and the shop was forced to cover the word ‘Karachi’ apart from its signboard. In Hyderabad also some Hindu organizations were frequently demanding to change the name of these shops.
However, family members of seven decades-old Karachi Bakery promoters are making it clear that it is an all-out Indian brand that originated from Hyderabad. The iconic Karachi Bakery that excels in preparing fruit biscuits, was founded by Khanchand Ramnani in 1953 and is now run by grandsons Rajesh and Harish Ramnani. During migration, this Sindhi had migrated from Karachi.
With this, special boards were installed in front of Karachi bakeries in Hyderabad city. The Karachi bakery management put up special boards saying that they should be recognized as Indians. They put up boards saying that they migrated from Pakistan after the partition of the country and started business here in 1953.
Karachi bakery has a good craze not only in the two Telugu states but also across the country. They have also established outlets abroad. Karachi bakery is known for its veg snacks, quality, delicious cakes, cookies and other snacks. There are Karachi bakery branches in the major cities of the two Telugu states.
The heirs of the Karachi bakery founder, speaking to the media, requested Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, DGP and Commissioner of Police to support them. “My grandfather, Khanchand Ramnani, a Sindhi Hindu, migrated from Karachi to Hyderabad during the partition of the country in 1947. After that, in 1953, he started the first Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad next to Seena Bakery in Mojanjahi Market,” they said.
They said that they (Karachi Bakery) have 23 branches in Hyderabad city alone. “We are Indian. This is not a Pakistani brand. Please do not ask us to change the name. We request the Telangana CM Saab, DGP and Commissioner to support us in this matter,” the descendants of Khanchand Ramnani requested.