Clifton restaurant attacked over owner’s PML-N affiliation

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 26^th, 2011.