ISLAMABAD: Disorder and hooliganism marred the last day of Pakistan’s biggest food festival, Karachi Eat, on Sunday, as a large group of men broke through barriers to forcibly enter the venue and exhibit “unruly” behavior, with several women complaining they were harassed.
Karachi Eat Festival, an annual event that has been taking place in the city of lights every year in January, kicked off its 10th edition on Friday. Despite the “exceptionally long queues” at the eateries on the first and second days of the three-day festival, visitors praised organizers and told Arab News the event offered a “one-stop solution for food, fun, and entertainment.”
However, on Sunday, which marked the third and last day of the event, several videos circulating on social media showed chaotic scenes occurring at the venue after groups of men forcibly entered the venue without a ticket. Some of them could be seen jumping over the walls, while another video showed a charged crowd breaking through a steel gate.
A concert featuring Pakistan singer Kaifi Khalil, which attracted a large crowd comprising men, women, and children, had to be canceled midway after several women in the audience complained of harassment.
“The food experience was overall good, but the situation got out of control when the concert started,” Ramsha Javed, a doctor from Karachi, told Arab News.
“The venue was so packed it started suffocating everyone. We were standing in the front row so it was impossible to run away from there,” she said. “I am lucky that I was surrounded by the men from my family because the host kept on announcing that girls were being harassed but there was literally no one from the management to control the crowd.”
She added that owing to the chaos, young children – who couldn’t even talk – were separated from their parents and the organizers kept making announcements, urging parents to pick up their children, making the overall situation “horrible.”
“To top it off, some people were smoking something weird which made children and adults choke with suffocation,” she added. “I swear I would never go again”.
Taha Sheikh, a student who went there with his family on the first and third day of the event, said he was happy with the arrangements on the opening day but disappointed by what transpired on Sunday.
“We enjoyed the festival on the first day despite the exceptionally long queues at the food stalls,” he said. “But what happened on the last day makes me very disappointed. It’s extremely unfortunate that something like that happened at a family event.”
Fardeen Saleem, another visitor at the event, told Arab News that groups of “uncultured and aggressive” men jumped the boundary walls and entered the venue.
“The security personnel tried their best to stop the crowd but it wasn’t possible for 10 to 15 guards to stop 300 people from entering,” she said.
Ghaznah Nazir Soomro, yet another visitor, urged organizers to ensure safety standards especially when the event is for families.
“I don’t think I’ll be going next year, there were stags everywhere and they all were misbehaving with families pushing them away to get inside,” she said. “If it’s a family festival, then please maintain that standard and set some rules that apply to everyone.”
Singer Khalil, dismissing rumors of being injured during the concert, said he was “extremely disappointed” by the chaos that ensued.
“I will say that I am extremely disappointed and upset because of what happened yesterday. Ladies that came out to enjoy the evening with their family and friends were harassed and treated inappropriately by a group of individuals that lacked decency and common sense,” the singer wrote in a Twitter post.
He added that the concert had to be called off mid-performance because he “couldn’t continue with what was going on and because it became a safety concern for people in the audience as well.”
When approached, Omar Omari, the chief executive officer of Eat Food Pakistan, said the intrusion, followed by the ensuing chaos, was condemnable.
“Karachi Eat Festival is stringent about implementing protocols that help ensure a smooth event, that includes road access for distributors, vendors, and patrons of the festival,” Omari told Arab News.
“External conditions like unruly behavior by crowds outside the venue, gate crashers hell-bent on breaking all the rules once inside the venue is to be condemned by all.”
“These are, unfortunately, the disadvantages of organizing an inclusive event for people of the city instead of keeping it exclusive with a high-ticket price, for instance, thus ensuring it can’t be attended by the general public.”
In a separate official statement, Omari said organizers were investigating the matter.
“We are collecting the data and conducting a deeper investigation into the matter of surveillance, breach of boundary walls, and the need to up the restrictions of what is brought into the arena. Our thoughts and sincere apologies to all who were affected by the unruly crowd and the innocent people who were caught in the crossfire.”
