After the chaotic mess that unfolded on the last day of the Karachi Eat festival, singer Ali Tariq has offered to hold a public, all-women gig, especially for those women who couldn’t enjoy any musical performances and have fun at the annual food festival in threat of men gate-crashing the space last week.
On Friday, the Raabte singer took to Instagram to share the idea with his fans who were upset about missing his gig. “After reading all messages from you guys, I want to put out a public gig, all girls only! This is to cater all the girls who came out on Sunday but weren’t able to enjoy their day to the fullest,” he wrote.
Tariq also “pledged” his performance and made a public call for sponsors and donors to cover his band venue and production cost and gave contact details for those who’d like to contact him for the public gig.
The comment section was full of appreciation for the singer. RJ Dino Ali wished Tariq the best with his initiative and the host from Karachi Eat Ahmed Godil offered his hosting skills for the all-women gig. Singer Rafay Israr gave his love to the singer for his gesture.
A day after the Karachi Eat, on Monday, Tariq also shared a statement on Instagarm in which he apologised for what went down at the food festival and hoped that all the women “made it home safe”.
He said that it “hurts to see that women and families in our society can’t even enjoy such simple things in life,” and that he’s “ashamed” of it. He further added that the videos circulating on the internet from the event were “disturbing to watch” and he hoped for everyone’s safety.
Backstory
On the last day of Karachi Eat's 10th instalment, the attendees shared harrowing accounts of harassment and groping.
Eyewitnesses at Beach View Park recalled one of the entrances being breached by stags as several miscreants entered the premises without tickets. Videos of the unruly crowd went viral right after, where many called out the organisers for a mismanaged event. "Gates crashed. Families were harassed," Salman Muhammad, whose near and dear were present when the mishap happened, shared with The Express Tribune.
"Young Stunners refused to perform and everything was called off. The management just wrapped everything up. The security was equal to none." He concluded, "It's unfortunate, we have become uncivilised ghosts."
In a statement shared with The Express Tribune, the organisers said, "A large crowd tore down the walls, fought with the security present, scaled the barricades to enter the premises and spread fear to those present at the event." The statement further added, "Despite security measures, the crowd was extremely unruly and stormed through the event causing harm to our security as well."
The organiser went on to add, "We keep the ticket prices as low as we can to make the event accessible to all. Hiking the price will only make it possible for the elite to attend which defeats the purpose of the Eat festival. It will not remain inclusive anymore. Day one saw even more numbers of crowds than day three and yet day one went on smoothly as did day two but the mob on day three that violated the security measures ruined the festival for the people present."
Talking about holding events on large scale, the organisers continued, "This event is for the people. We started this event to give back public spaces to people so they could own their city. What happened makes us question whether we need to conduct these events with extreme security protocols present and limit our audiences if our mob can't behave. What's the point of creating a platform for our city if the mob can't contain themselves?"
The statement concluded, "The idea of reclaiming our public spaces is what this event was about. This is why we started this. If we are now forced to do events in barren lands because we do not have the self-discipline or the responsibility to conduct ourselves in a manner that allows everyone to enjoy without feeling harassed then that is a sad statement on what we are as a society."
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