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Singer Kaifi Khalil denies being injured at Karachi Eat, slams harassment of women by individuals lacking ‘decency’

Singer Kaifi Khalil denies being injured at Karachi Eat, slams harassment of women by individuals lacking ‘decency’

Organisers slam "vengeful disregard for rules", South SSP says people scaled walls to enter venue without passes; no case has been registered.
Updated 09 Jan, 2023

The annual Karachi Eat was held this past weekend, celebrating 10 years of the food festival, but a ruckus on the final day marred the event for many, with claims of gate crashing and harassment circulating on social media. Claims were also made that singer Kaifi Khalil was injured during his performance but later debunked by the singer, who shared a statement assuring fans that he is fine, albeit “disappointed and upset” by the lack of decency shown by those who reportedly harassed women at the event.

The event was held at the Beach View Park in Clifton. “The Eat Festival came to life 10 years ago with the aim of bringing diverse good food, the citizens of Karachi and music all together under one roof,” read a statement by the food festival’s organisers. “Over the years we have taken the brand to Lahore and Islamabad with the same aim in mind. Despite our most stringent efforts, the closing day of our 10th Eat Festival saw unruly crowd behaviour and some very unfortunate and sad incidents occurred.

“This vengeful disregard for rules and regulations gave rise to events that caused much discomfort to innocent people as gate crashers ran amuck. The crowd at the venue on Sunday was less in absolute numbers than on Saturday but because there were no unruly gate crashers, the first two days ended on a civilised note. Regardless, 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 for all who were affected by the unruly crowd and the innocent people who were caught in the crossfire.”

Khalil, who stopped his performance at the event midway and left the stage, took to Instagram and Twitter on Monday morning with an official statement denying reports that he was injured but slamming the gate crashers.

“Hello everyone. I would just like to clarify the fake news that’s circulating around about me getting injured during my performance at the Karachi Eat yesterday [Sunday] which is not true. I appreciate everyone being concerned about my well-being and inquiring about it, but I am totally fine,” Khalil wrote in his statement.

He said he’s “disappointed and upset” because of the incident where women who came to “enjoy the evening with family and friends were harassed and treated inappropriately by a group of individuals that lacked decency and common sense”.

“The event got cancelled mid performance because I couldn’t continue with what was going on and because it became a safety concern for people in the audience as well. I request organisers to please take into consideration the safety of everyone attending when choosing the venue for such events [e]specially the ladies, so such incidents don’t happen. These events get organised so that people can come out to enjoy but there are some people who ruin the entire experience for everyone,” he said.

The ‘Kahani Suno’ singer shared that this was his second experience with this kind of situation and called it “disgusting and unacceptable”. “How can I perform when this happens? I request everyone please be mindful of each other and treat everyone with respect. THIS IS A MESSAGE TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT FEEL ENTITLED AND THINK IT’S ACCEPTABLE TO ACT INAPPROPRIATELY AND HARASS SOMEONE,” he reasoned.

Reports on social media suggested that single men “forcefully entered” the event and that people had to leave through spaces between walls and even scale them. Social media was filled with people sharing their experiences at the festival. People described “a ‘family only’ event turned into an ‘all men’ event” and some said they were harassed at the venue and separated from their friends due to the crowd.

However, South SSP Syed Asad Raza told Images that no case had been registered about any untoward incidents at the event.

SSP Raza said that a huge crowd had gathered and some of them who did not have passes tried to enter but the management and the police closed the doors for a while. However, some people entered it by scaling low walls and contingents of police rushed to the spot to remove them from the premises. “The mismanagement was partly created by physical checking of passes that led to crowd of people gathered before entry gates,” said the officer.

He said that no one was arrested nor had a case or complaint been registered by the management of the food festival.

Comments

M. Saeed Jan 09, 2023 01:40pm
Karachi is a mega-city of grave proportions in need of strict rules and regulations for police control of hooligans in the few events of general public amusement on entree restrictions.
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ENGR Hamid Shafiq Jan 09, 2023 01:49pm
Literate people with no etiquettes how to behave in concert or in exhibition?
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NYS Jan 09, 2023 01:51pm
Said to be organisers mis-management not to be wrong order
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Mehar Jan 09, 2023 02:32pm
is there any human left in Pakistan or all have reverted to being wild beasts!
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Peeking Jan 09, 2023 02:47pm
The police then didn't do the job properly and now also seems not interested, must be influencials that is why no action taken
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Fastrack Jan 09, 2023 02:52pm
What else to expect from Pakistanis
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NYS Jan 09, 2023 02:57pm
This is not the first of it's kind last month abrupt behavior was observed via auto show karachi
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insaafian Jan 09, 2023 03:19pm
something is wrong with Pakistani men - frustrated!
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Shahriar Jan 09, 2023 03:22pm
Karachi On The Brink
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Syed Hasni Jan 09, 2023 03:32pm
He is a good singer, I love his song, Kahani Suno, Purani Suno Taras khaya Tha, Udhar Diya Tha
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Jan 09, 2023 03:35pm
What a gruesome, grim, grave, gross and great tragedy?
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imdad kolori Jan 09, 2023 03:48pm
What to expect - filth from all over the country comes to live in khi
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Jan 09, 2023 04:06pm
Old and bad habits die hard.
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Jimmy Jan 09, 2023 04:34pm
Although i wasn’t even there.. but can tell without the doubt that those party crashers would be non-karachiites, mainly from North West.
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Bunny Jan 09, 2023 05:17pm
Clifton is a high end locality . If the situation here is so rowdy like ... then , imagine the rest of the country.
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Syed Ahmed Jan 09, 2023 06:14pm
My whole family was there no body complaining about anything, always things happen is illiterate people joined let people enjoy
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Adeel Jan 09, 2023 06:34pm
Janwars of Pakistan at their best again.
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Nadeem Shah USA Jan 09, 2023 06:36pm
No one is afraid of the law, wonder how many afghanis were in the unruly crowd and how many homegrown?
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Texas Tariq Jan 09, 2023 06:41pm
Parents should teach their children manners at age 5 to 7. Same with children in pre-school or KG, teachers should teach them to be clean, get in line, be patient, help others, be kind. This is what is supposed to be taught but some children are raised worse than animals. There should be guidelines taught to all new parents how to raise a good citizen. The media should dedicate at least 10% of airtime to this. It will change Pakistan.
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Ash Jan 09, 2023 06:44pm
@ENGR Hamid Shafiq absolutely this is evident in every facet of life in Karachi
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John Jan 09, 2023 06:45pm
Economic meltdown is being followed by Etiquette and mannerism meltdown! The Education has already gone south! Long live neutrals!
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Khan Jan 09, 2023 08:04pm
Stop these concerts! Please.
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nk Jan 09, 2023 08:23pm
The social media obsessed goons made a mess of a nice a smooth program. Take them out of the crowd and please, please punish them.
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Saleem Jan 09, 2023 08:47pm
Mahram is intended exactly for these situations. Request women to follow this requirement.
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Riazullah Baig Jan 09, 2023 11:31pm
Who is this Kaifi guy and why should this be even a headline news in Dawn?
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Pro West Jan 09, 2023 11:44pm
To all those who will moan about the behaviour being exclusive to Pakistani should educate themselves with happens at concerts globally. So much so in fact that it lead to the UN starting a "SafeSpacesNow" campaign after it was found that over 40% of women/girls globally have been harassed at music events. Now, given the extent of the problem, one can only conclude that such behaviour goes hand hand in with such events. Most Pakistanis won't be surprised at this.
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Top Gun Jan 10, 2023 12:59am
What a great country of pure people..
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Fawaz Jan 10, 2023 06:13am
@Khan why?? Why should the concerts stop?
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ukasha rajpoot Jan 10, 2023 11:21am
We as a nation have no basic essence of anything. Making a queue or a line is not in our genetics. We can die for a 20 kg bag of flour. That is our worth. That's why we are so behind in everything. It's too late to learn these basic things now. We have reached our destiny. Enjoy.
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