What’s in a name? Well, apparently everything, at least for Shiv Sena’s leader Nitin Madhukar Nandgaonkar, who recently demanded that Bandra’s Karachi Sweets change its name due to its link to Pakistan.
In a video that has now gone viral, Nandgaonkar is seen telling the owner of the candy shop in Bandra West that he “hates the name because of its association with Pakistan and terrorists.” The owner then tries to explain to Nandgaonkar that the name was given by his ancestors because they had come from Karachi after the partition, to which the Shiv Sena leader argues that he can name his shop after anything, his ancestors or himself, but not Karachi because it is a place associated with terrorists.
The owner even tries to explain to Nandgaonkar that the store has no connection to Karachi in Pakistan, but the latter categorically tells him that he has a problem with the name. He is seen saying to the shop owner: “We are giving you time, you have to make the change because the name is synonymous with Pakistan, change ‘Karachi’ to something in Marathi.”
Towards the end of the video, Nandgaonkar tells the owner that he will assist in whatever is necessary to change the name of the store, but the name must be changed both in the store and in government records. He also says that he will visit the store again in 15 days.
The ANI news outlet, which also reported on this, published a photo in which the store owner has now covered the name of the store with newspapers.
Several people were outraged on Twitter condemning the behavior of the Shiv Sena leader.
The ridiculous police state of Maharashtra has become @OficinadeUT. There are thousands of monuments in Maharashtra that belong to Islamic culture, thousands of mosques, Mazars and other Islamic structures. Be @ShivSena demolish them all? Are @PawarSpeaks Y @RahulGandhi agreed?
– Ashik Gosaliya (@gosaliya_ashik) November 19, 2020
I don’t know what’s going on in people’s minds these days.
– Desh Ki Ek Soch (@desh_soch) November 19, 2020
However, Shiv Sena MP and party leader Sanjay Raut later took to Twitter to defend the name of the sweet shop, saying that the Karachi bakery and karachi sweets have been in Mumbai for the past 60 years. . They have nothing to do with Pakistan. There is no point in asking now for their names to be changed. He also said that the demand for change is not the official position of the party.
Karachi bakery and karachi sweets have been in Bombay for the last 60 years. They have nothing to do with Pakistan. There is no point asking to change their names now. The demand to change his name is not Shivsena’s official position.
– Sanjay Raut (@ rautsanjay61) November 19, 2020
This is not the first time the Sena leader has been in the news over a controversy. In February, he was detained together with a member of his party when the duo beat a man accused of sexual abuse and uploaded the video to social media. He was later released on bail.
Later, sometime in July, he had also caused a ruckus at a Mumbai hospital, demanding a COVID-19
the patient’s body is given to his relatives.
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