KARACHI:
Close to 4pm on Monday afternoon a series of gunshots were fired at Bilawal Chowrangi which is usually heavily guarded by police as the president resides nearby.
A group of Sindh National Party (SNP) workers protesting outside the BBQ Tonight restaurant turned violent, attacking staff and damaging property. SNP workers from across the city came loaded on buses and began chanting anti-Shahbaz Sharif slogans. Nearly 60 of them then attacked the restaurant, smashing the ground floor full length glass windows and beating everyone who came in their way.
Flatscreen televisions used to advertise the latest items on the menu and daily specials were ripped off their wall holdings while security cameras were also targeted.
A clearly disturbed but surprisingly calm Sardar Rahim, who is one of the owners of the family-owned business, said a few hundred people charged into the restaurant, beating the staff with sticks. “They beat up my brother pretty badly as well as several members of the staff and did significant damage to the property,” said Rahim, who is also a leader for the Nawaz faction of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).
Speaking to the media after the attack, Rahim insisted on separating his political affiliation from his place of business. “What happened (the attack) is deplorable, this (restaurant) is not a political party office. People from all spheres and ethnicities come to enjoy a good meal, associating the two [politics and business] is wrong. These people are barbarians not nationalists, they are defaming the nationalist leaders of Sindh,” he said, the fury evident in his tone.
A waiter speaking on condition of anonymity said he was on the rooftop when the attack happened. By the time he made his way down, the group had moved to the first floor. There were about 50 to 60 men who charged in but the police managed to stop them before they made their way to the higher floors, he said. Other than this waiter all other staff present, including the security guards seemed to have just joined duty “five minutes ago” and heard and saw nothing.
Soon after the attack, Rahim said the police was contacted and promptly arrived to arrest six men and disperse the others. TPO Clifton SP Tariq Dharejo told this newspaper that the police seized one TT pistol, two to three motorcycles and two cars from the attackers.
While the accused were not interrogated by the time this report was filed, Dharejo confirmed they all “definitely belonged to the Sindh National Party.” He also said the police have received CCTV footage. When pressed by journalists for a possible link between Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s statement on Karachi being declared a separate province and the attack on the restaurant, Rahim declined to comment. He also attempted to disassociate the attack on the PML-N’s office earlier in the day from the one on his restaurant. The PML-N office on Karsaz was also targeted by about a dozen men who destroyed their media cell, a party press release said. An FIR No. 81/011 was registered.
The chief organiser for PML-N in Sindh, Saleem Zia, told The Express Tribune that about 10 to 15 people ransacked the party office for nearly 15 minutes, breaking furniture and ripping off posters. Unlike Rahim, Zia sees a strong link between the attacks on the two sites. “Obviously there is a link, they [the attackers] were people from the same party,” he said. When asked about whether the attack was in retaliation to Sharif’s statement, he said: “The chief minister’s comment has been misquoted and a clarification has been issued.” According to Zia, Sharif never demanded a separate province in Sindh but simply alluded to the ongoing debate. “We will discuss the matter of provinces when Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2011.
its really sad incident. BAR B Q Tonight is one one of the best resturant in karachi and located near bilawal chorangi which is always heavily guarded by rangers and police because of bilawal house. after seeing this incident who will dare to invest in this country.
I am so glad I got out of Pakistan when I did. It seems to be moving in reverse gear. I dread having to visit in the future.
A second Civil War has started. Out of 100s who attacked BBQ-Tonight, the TPO could only find scant evidence of the attackers. Lets not escalate the Provincial debate. Al parties should cease and desist from making such statements and calm the waters. We are all becoming animals, even they don’t attack unnecessarily.
I was at BBQ tonight at 2pm eating lunch with a friend who had come in from out of town. It seems we narrowly escaped. This morning I woke up to a bomb blast in Phase II near my home. What next?
I hope I can join ‘LeftPakistan’ soon. 🙂
Pakistan is turning to Barbaristan
BBQ Tonight is such an awesome restaurant. Pity it got stuck btw political wars.
LAhore Pakistan
I am counting days when my immigration visa will come .. the above incident did not happen without help of police. 99 % people here are corrupt and involved in looting the county ..the 1 percent are better off moving to another country … I love Pakistan but I dont love the corrupt people who have taken over and the corrupt system controlling our beloved country
So will the people who go out to eat be affiliated to the party the restaurant owners support too? Anyone I know of my family could have been there any day of the week, are we to live in fear of where to eat now too? Stupid, illiterate party thugs need to go home to their wives and make an honest living. The govt needs to give these animals proper jobs instead of paying them to be goons and smash up private property!
this is not good
This shows that maybe Shahbaz Sharif is right and Karachi should be separated from Sind and its feudal mindset
Its embarrassing what is happening in our country, specially Karachi. All brilliant and smart people who have the means are trying to leave the country. If a restaurant so close to a heavily guarded location is not safe, then no place is safe in this city. Wake up politicians, soon, only Karachi will be left with criminals and the uneducated, and the economic drivers of this city will move away for better future! Do something before this happens or there will be no hope for this country.
The way things are going in Pakistan, Karachi is well on its way to secede from the rest of the country. Shahbaz Sharif was right on the money when he made that comment, because the circumstances and politics are dictating that statement.
Why try to hide how people truly feel about the situation? The Sharif’s are correct when they say that if a city is going, then let it go……..
If you are from Karachi, it is real hard to go and start a business in the NWFP province or Punjab……..I dare anyone to try it…….see how the locals treat you.
The grievance of Karachiites stays intact when tens of millions of Punjab and Frontier’s unemployed and uneducated move into Karachi and over crowed our city. Creating kachi abadi after kachi abadi, using up precious little resources, and then the people of Karachi suffer.
We have seen this once beautiful city totally decline over the last 20 years due to uncontrolled mass immigration into our city.
I for one would totally support Mr Shahbaz Sharif if he calls for our city to secede from Pakistan. Thank you Mr Sharif, you will live up to being a true Punjabi and ‘son of the soil’…..
Bhuwahahhaaaaa………….
The last time Pakistan was split in two it was because Punjab/ Pakistani Army wanted that to happen, otherwise Mujib would have been accommodated in Isloo……..Now the call of the day is Karachi, and lo and behold Punjab as usual rises to the occasion!
Astonishing. And we call ourselves Muslims.
@Imran: yes Imran run away from this country , your home land , your mother land , yes most of the people in this country are corrupt and killing each other so you better leave your motherland like that and run for your life ……..
Everyone is talking about new provinces but no one demands the status quo. We are going well with these territories. It is just a useless adventure by politicians.
@Amjad Malik: im not a supporter of US actions in the region…but what has an attack on bbq tnite by sindhi nationalists got anything to do with American presence in the region…..stop blaming others for our ills!
See, we are the enemies of our own people. No Americans or any other is behind this. We have chosen the wrong people to be our leaders and now we have to pay the price. The more we remain silent, the more it will grow and the worst it would get get. Wake up Pakistan, Wake up before it is too late.
Well done Shahbaz Sharif. Illiterate and illogical political moves have such results. While normal people would think twice and choose their words carefully, our “leaders” say whatever they feel like on the spur of the moment paying no heed to the neanderthals running amok in the country. Problems on the ground seem tiny when seen from as far away as our politicians seem to be from the masses.
Haven’t we heard that Shahbaz Sharif is the more intelligent one in the Sharif clan?? Well now we know how intellignet he really is ! Message to him should be NOT to MESS WITH SINDH !! Just do the mohallah politics in Punjab !
I am really dis hearted about Pakistani people.
Best wishes for the Owner of Bar B Q Tonight.
This is sad and speak volumes about our state of affairs. When the popular restaurant, just next to Bilawal chowrangi, can be attacked – and mind you there are atleast 5-6 fully loaded police vans nearby round the clock – then you and me are surely not safe. Can you imagine someone creating havoc on two floors and police arriving after 20 minutes. This is our police. The city chief should resign. He can’t stop the looters, the drug mafia, the land grabbers and the menace creating people. Off course, for most of these police wallas are from Punjab and they show contempt towards the lives and properties of Karachi.
Foreigners also come at Bar BQ tonight, wht message v r giving to them?
Attacking poor waiters and workers doing their jobs and earning their living… Sickening and sad. They have nothin to do with any of this
When this happened Zaradari was in town and the police presence was at its maximum at that area. This could not have happened without Zardari’s approval.
@A. Aftab: Its such a shame that “???literate???” people like you single out Punjab or KP. Pakistan split earlier because of Mr. Bhutto [A Sindhi? or A Karachite? or Islamabadi?]. You say, uneducated Pushtoons and Punjabis over-crowd “your????” city today? Who over-crowded “MY!!!!!” city a few years ago????? Should I say “Biharis, Bengalis”. SUCH A SHAME!
Pakistan and each and every inch of it is mine and yours i.e. OURS. For God sake, let’s work together to have a Great Pakistan and that’s what will make us all great. We will never stand among respectable nations today if we continue to sow seeds of hatred in this generation and the ones to come.
@A. Aftab: Is it literate to sit on the floor of some congested hot hall listening to some man screaming from London? Who are you fooling? The people of Pakistan have every right to live within the borders of their land. If anything, people who have migrated from other countries should show respect to the people they now live with. You go to Karachi and you see people from every neighbouring nation around Pakistan. Despite all of Pakistan’s challenges, these people all still come to our country. If you don’t like Pakistanis, you can always go back to where you and your parents come from.
To Grace and Truth Prevails:
Look guys, no need to get emotional. Karachi has become a haven for all of Pakistan’s destitute and poor. I have a right to say whatever the hell I want to say because if the provincial governments where these Punjabi’s and Pukhtoons are streaming from into Karachi cannot take care of their own people and these people end up on my city’s streets then I got a serious problem because I consider my city my home!
I am not responsible and neither should the people of Karachi be held to account to take care of all of Pakistan’s rejects.
Would you take poor people off the street into your home? I don’t think so!
Looking after your city and caring about its future is not a crime. ‘You’ …….’your home’ and ‘your city’ and its future come first…….Islam and charity later………Nothing mean or un-Islamic about that.
Go tell that corrupt wadera Shahbaz Sharif and that drug dealer Hoti to take care of their people, and not send them to Karachi. The sign on the wall clearly says:
‘we are sorry, but we are Full’……!
GOOD JOB PEOPLE Any person any business related to Mafia Sharif Family shoul be treted that way. This family has destroyed Pakistan they don t desreve any better.