Unfortunately, in a slightly disappointing twist of events, one of the most eagerly awaited and largest ever festivals in Pakistan, or more especially Karachi, concluded the three-day program for this year Sunday night.
Many individuals on social media claim that the ‘family event’ was disrupted at Beach View Park in Clifton by mischievous stags that not only tried to disrupt and managed to enter the venue without tickets but then also harassed and physically attacked the families, especially the female audience members near the concert area, and perhaps even attacked the singers. As guests sought to escape the situation, panic took out at the festival, nearly causing panic in the confined area.
The frightening reports of harassment posted by the participants on social media sites and the widely shared videos of the noisy crowd on social media are horrifying. While some performers declined to enter the stage during the protest, other scheduled performances were abruptly interrupted in the middle, leading to the conclusion that the event had come to an end.
There were rumors that the singer of “Kahani Suno”, who was on stage when such an incident occurred, was hurt after being struck by a miscreant, but he denied the claims and insisted that he was “Absolutely OK.” Kaifi Khalil, on the other hand, criticized the situation and blasted the ‘entitled’ harassers for spoiling the occasion for female attendees.
The Karachi Eat organizers responded to the disaster by saying, “The idea of restoring our public places is exactly what this festival was about. We started this because of this.” The statement continued, “If we are now compelled to hold gatherings in isolated places because we lack the self-discipline or the accountability to conduct ourselves in a way that allows everyone to enjoy themselves without feeling harassed, then that is a bad reflection on what we are as a society.”
To put it gently, it is upsetting to witness the fate of the festivities intended to be a ray of hope for Karachiites given the current dire status of the country.
