Photos by Mahendra Kolhe
Afraid of inviting civic ire, the restaurant owner shoos away hotel association members protesting curfew timings near his cafe.
Thousands of shopkeepers, traders and restaurant owners staged protests in the city demanding that the state relax timings of operations beyond the current deadline of 4 pm. Restaurant owners gathered at the
Goodluck Chowk right outside the cafe were, however, shooed away by the owner as well as the staff and were told to protest elsewhere.
Cafe owner Kaseem Irani was worried he would end up in trouble without even being a part of the protest, and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) authorities would press charges against him for allowing the protest to happen outside the cafe. He didn’t want to make it look like he was a part of the protest or encouraging the same in any way, he said.