Karachi: Masala dosa, Hyderabadi achar and chutney, the food delicacies of Indian-origin otherwise hard to find in Karachi, are some of the special offerings of the evening as the ongoing marathon protest sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly building has transformed into a family festival for two days of the weekend.
The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the force behind the prolonged protest, has used the unique crowd-pulling tactic to change the venue of its agitation into a family event on weekend as otherwise children, youngsters, and housewives largely stay away from such political gatherings in the city.
The sit-in outside the building of Sindh Assembly has been continuing since New Year’s Eve, seeking for powers Karachi’s mayoral office in order to enable the next elected mayor to have a meaningful role.
Pizza, fish, Karachi’s famous Bun Kebab, and other snacks are available at a number of food stalls participating in the two-day festival. One of the stalls was handing out snacks free of charge for the festival’s participants. Live Display of Martial Arts’ skills and trampoline for children were some of the other attractions for the families.
The festival on Saturday and Sunday was held from 5pm till 1am as these are mostly the business timings of Karachi’s several food streets.
The family ‘festival’ proved to be a good crowd-puller although stall owners there had a tough competition with the vendors of nearby food streets at Karachi’s famous Burns Road and People’s Square.
JI Karachi chief, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman who has also gained significance on the city’s political scene, said that he would have commenced the earlier had he known that so many food vendors were participating in the event.
Tanveer Behlim, a Youtuber who gave extensive coverage to the festival, liked the idea of arranging so many food stalls to attract families to a gathering of political nature.
A celebrated TV reporter of Karachi, Chand Nawab, also liked the idea of a family festival at the venue of a protest sit-in given that the city had too few places for recreation.
