Several social media users shared pictures of the covered signboard in Bengaluru.
Highlights
- A crowd, angry over Pulwama attack, protested outside Bengaluru outlet
- Karachi Bakery was forced to cover "Karachi" part of its signboard
- The Delhi staff has been asked by the police to remain careful
"Absolutely Indian by heart," reads a post shared by a six-decade old bakery chain, Karachi Bakery, on its official Facebook account today, adding that its founder had set up the chain after he migrated to India from Pakistan after partition.
The clarification that has also been put outside an outlet in South Delhi comes a day after another outlet in Bengaluru's Indiranagar was forced to cover the "Karachi" part of its signboard outside the shop amid calls for change of the name of the bakery.
The staff at the Delhi outlet told NDTV they have been asked by the police to remain careful.
"The brand was established in 1953 and is an Indian company based out of Hyderabad, Telangana. The popularity and love of its products has contributed to its growth in India and abroad," the post on the Facebook page, followed by over 118,000 people, reads. The statement has also been shared on its Twitter account.
The bakery chain, set up by Khanchand Ramnani in 1953, has its outlets in Mumbai apart from Delhi and Bengaluru.
Reports said a crowd, angry over the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama last week, in which more than 40 CRPF soldiers were killed, protested outside the Bengaluru outlet of the bakery chain on Friday.
Among the many people who condemned the protest is film producer and director Onir, who tweeted: "We are behaving like Fools when demanding the name Karachi to be removed. Bombay/ Delhi/ Calcutta restaurants are there all over Pakistan. (sic)"
Amid the outpouring of social media reactions, a Twitter user, surprised over the incident, said, "I thought we were game changers and not name changers."
Many parts across the country have witnessed protests and violence after the attack on CRPF convoy in South Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14. Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed the responsibility for the attack.
PM Narendra Modi, however, today warned against the targeting of Kashmiris in response to the violence. "Our fight is for Kashmir, not against Kashmiris... Kashmiris have suffered the most due to terrorism, and the rest of the country must stand in their support," he said at a rally in Rajasthan's Tonk.