Vandalism of Karachi Bakery and the Weaponisation of Food to Portray a Shallow Form of Patriotism

The Wire

2 days ago

A branch of the famous Karachi Bakery in Shamshabad locality of Hyderabad was vandalised by workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on May 10, amidst the then ongoing Operation Sindoor.
The attackers, who wore saffron shawls were seen stepping on Pakistani flags and specifically vandalising the name 'Karachi'.
Karachi Bakery was established in 1953 by Khanchand Ramnani, a Sindhi Hindu who migrated from Karachi to Hyderabad following the partition of India in 1947. He named the bakery as a homage to his hometown.
Over the years, Karachi Bakery has become a part of the culinary fabric of Hyderabad, famed for its biscuits, especially the Osmania Biscuit. It has also emerged as a pan Indian brand, with branches in various cities across the country. Multiple attacks on Karachi Bakery over the years
In the past few years, Karachi Bakery has had to face multiple attacks and protests from right wing forces only because of its name. In 2019, in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, the shop was vandalised. Both in 2019 and 2025, one of the owners had to come and clarify that they have no links to Pakistan.
Moreover, in 2019, a group of people claiming to be from a human rights organisation covered the bakery's name in one of its branches in Ahmedabad.
In 2021 the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led a protest outside the bakery's Bandra outlet in Mumbai to demand that its name be changed, which eventually led to the outlet's shutting down.
Every time there is a conflict with Pakistan, Karachi bakery has to pay the price.
'We request the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and senior officers of administration to support to prevent any change in the name. People are putting up Tricolour in the outlets of the bakery across the city, kindly support us as we are an Indian brand and not a Pakistani brand,' the owners issued a statement after the latest incident last month.
Despite the repeated attacks over years, the owners have continued to stay in the business and even expanded to the quick commerce platforms such as Zepto and Blinkit.
The owner of a general store in Mumbai's Chembur says that there has been no change in the demand for Karachi Bakery products, especially the Osmania and fruit biscuits.
A screengrab showing people vandalising the Karachi Bakery. Photo: X/@anusharavi10.
So, if consumers are not hesitant in buying their products, it begs the question that who really has a problem with them and why? Why is it that a well known beloved Indian bakery is associated with Pakistan and consequently portrayed as a villain?
This is not the only instance of food being weaponised in the backdrop of Operation Sindoor in the past few weeks.
In an attempt to contribute to the patriotic fervour, Tyohaar sweets and Bombay Mishtan Bhandar of Jaipur declared that they are dropping the word 'Pak' from all their sweets like Mysore Pak and Moti Pak, assuming it stems from 'Pakistan'. Tyohaar Sweets declared they will replace it with the word 'shree'.
'People who think that pak is somehow related to Pakistan are so ignorant. It shows that they have no awareness about south Indian culture, language and practices. Paaka in Kannada means the sticky, sweet syrupy base that holds the sweet together, sometimes soft, sometimes chewy, sometimes hard, based on what people prefer. There are thousands of words with pak in them. Are all these names going to change and are those changes going to make one more nationalistic or ensure the security of the country?' Dr. Sylvia Karpagam, a renowned public health doctor and researcher who has worked extensively on the intersections of food and politics, told The Wire in an interview.
Whenever there is a conflict with Pakistan we see how restaurants and food are targeted. Vandalising Indian restaurants and changing names of Indian dishes become the easiest way of portraying a shallow form of patriotism. It amounts to nothing but political narrative setting. 'Food is an easy way to divide communities'
Karpagam feels that it is 'not surprising' such attacks happen, in fact it would be surprising if they didn't.
' These attacks are not unusual. the culture of extra-judicial actions, rakshaks of various objects and spaces, encounter killings etc. are valorised. Mainstream media and even so called leaders – political and religious – participate in this valorisation. People don't seem to find it ridiculous to target people who have nothing to do with terrorism or war or inter-country issues,' she added.
These attacks and protests could be seen in the larger context of weaponising food to create political narratives. Food has always been politicised and used as a tool to discriminate and conduct violence. Recently there has been discourse about challenging the perceived supremacy of vegetarianism and beef eating practices.
'Food is an easy way to divide communities depending on who owns them and who eats there. Even though only 20% Indians identify as vegetarian, they dictate which foods are considered as pure/touchable and which are untouchable and impure. If there are attacks on Muslim or Dalit communities, there is a tacit support, silence and collusion by the larger society,' said Karpagam.
This leads to a lot of impunity among people who are actually anti-social elements who are valorised as heros. When brutal murders happen by the so-called vigilantes , they are celebrated. This is a violation of the Constitution and rule of law. Now the Muslim community is being targeted for occupying a space that was left empty because of caste prejudices against meat,' she added.
Therefore, such instances when a karachi bakery is vandalised, a Mysore Pak is renamed, a Sabir Malik is lynched to death on suspicion of eating beef, or when a Dalit man is denied entry in a restaurant in Bellari, they are just manifestations of caste and class supremacy through food.
Deciding the narratives on who can eat what and where and to decide what is acceptable is a power wielded by the privileged. Such manifestations go against the ethos of our constitution and shows how food can be used to otherise identities and remains a deeply political subject.
The author is an intern at The Wire.
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