Sombre times: Wedding hall owners struggle to stay afloat

Several celebrations have been postponed in aftermath of APS attack

PESHAWAR:

Although more than a month has passed since terrorists brutally killed 150 people in Army Public School (APS), the provincial capital still remains engulfed in a permanent state of sorrow.

The business of renting wedding halls that usually thrives in winter, which is considered the ‘wedding season’, has also taken a major hit as hall owners say many weddings have been postponed or simply toned down in the aftermath of the tragedy.



Muhammad Nawaz, who owns the Peshawar Gathering Hall on GT Road, told The Express Tribune his hall had been booked for two wedding ceremonies and five mehndis this month, but they were all postponed after the attack.

According to Nawaz, the families decided to put off the celebrations till the city’s condition normalised and did not even take back the 10% advance they had given to the hall’s administration at the time of booking.

Nawaz said one of the grooms told him his wedding had been finalised for January 11 but his cousin Usama, a tenth-grader, was among the children who died in the APS attack so the wedding had been postponed.

The hall owner added catering businesses had also been affected. “After the tragic incident, people prefer to celebrate their events with simplicity in the city’s gathering halls.”

Malik Muhammad Usman, cousin of deceased student Usama, said his elder brother’s wedding was meant to be celebrated in January and the tenth-grader was very excited about it; he had even arranged a lunch for his class-fellows, but unfortunately he did not survive the attack.

Now the wedding has been postponed; there will be no celebrations, said a distraught Usman, adding Usama was a brilliant student and he would never forget him.

Manager of Spring Night Wedding Hall, Asif Khan reiterated more than a month has passed but their business was still not picking up.

According to Khan, in January, the hall only had one booking, a welcome party for students of University of Peshawar on January 20, but that too got postponed. “They called us on January 17 and said they could not celebrate in this situation,” said Khan.

The manager said in a city where militant attacks are the norm it is hard to keep businesses running. “Many businessmen have left the province and shifted abroad or to other cities because of this reason,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2015.