Shiv Sena leader threatens ‘Karachi’ Sweets shop owner to change shop name

MNS/Shiv Sena has a history of using Marathi chauvinism and Hindu ultra-nationalism to justify hooliganism and vandalism by their supporters.

Recently, a video surfaced of Shiv Sena leader Nitin Nandgaokar asking the shop owner of “Karachi Sweets” (Bandra West, Mumbai) to change the name ‘Karachi’.

Nandgaonkar had previously part of the MNS, but switched to the Shiv Sena during the elections. MNS has a history of vigilantism that is a mix of Marathi chauvinism and Hindu nationalism.

They have attacked Pakistani artists in Mumbai as well as targeted those without Marathi boards. Now, state vice-president and MNS leader Haji Saif Shaikh will take the shop owner to court as they have sent a notice to the manager of Karachi Sweets.

In the video, Nitin Nandgaonkar repeatedly tells the shop owner to change the name of the shops despite his protests until he agrees. He says that he hates the name Karachi as “Pakistanis are terrorists”:

Karachi means you’re from Karachi only? We welcome you, but change the name Karachi. 

Though the shop owner repeatedly tries to inform Nandgaonkar of the significance of the name to him, the MNS leader does not listen, and instead tells him to use an “Indian name”, preferably a Marathi name. He suggested his or his forefather’s name. He also insisted that the shop owner puts up a board in Marathi.


Shiv Sena/MNS Nationalistic Hooliganism

This is nothing new for the MNS, Shiv Sena or Nandgoankar. Nandgoankar has repeatedly used aggression against citizens, forcing them to do as he pleases. In March 2018, Nitin Nandgoankar broke the windshield of a taxi with an iron rod which was plying in Mumbai amid strike. He also threatened the driver.
Courtesy: Dainik Bhaskar
The whole incident was caught on camera. The same year he humiliated a cab driver by making him do sit-ups for not wearing a uniform. In January this year he was arrested for beating up a young man for assaulting a girl. Nandgoankar received bail within two hours.
 
MNS and Shiv Sena have been repeatedly attacking institutions- both Government and privately owned- for not using Marathi signboards.
 
They have also been attacking “Pakistani sounding” shops for years. In 2009, six members of the MNS were arrested for sending a similar warning letter to the owner of another Karachi Sweets in Mulund, an eastern suburb of Mumbai. Soon after, another branch of Karachi Sweet Mart in Kopri, Thane also veiled its sign board fearing an attack from the Shiv Sena. The Karachi Sweet Mart was registered under the name “Jai Maharashtra”. The Motwanis had came to India from Sindh in Pakistan after the partition and, like many Sindhis, wanted to pay homage to their origins. Then, MNS leader Shishir Singh echoed the same words as Nandgoankar.

After the terror attacks, our citizens are offended by anything that is connected with Pakistan.

The owners of the sweet shop may have come from Karachi, but now since they are citizens of this country, they should adopt an Indian name

Read More: Bhima-Koregaon: When the Process Becomes Punishment

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March 2024
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