‘Cafe Sindh in Burnes Garden closed in view of SC orders’

The Sindh Culture Department on Friday clarified that the Café Sindh situated in the Burnes Garden was closed in view of the directives of the Supreme Court to clear the park of all such constructions.

The secretary for the culture department, Akbar Laghari, issued this clarification when the social media was abuzz with the news going viral regarding the sudden closure of Café Sindh, which was famous among people who love to eat traditional food items of the province.

The Café Sindh was launched during the tenure of former Sindh culture minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah. The owner of the restaurant said that he had been denied the opportunity to do business related to his eatery after he had invested a phenomenal sum of money to construct it.

The statement of the culture secretary said that the building of the National Museum in the Burnes Garden had to be demolished in line with the directives of the apex judiciary after shifting it to some other place.

The statement of the culture secretary issued on Friday said: “As per the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a subsequent meeting and a press conference by the chief secretary Sindh, all type of constructions and activities in parks are to be stopped and demolished. Burns garden is a park where the Sindh culture department has many buildings. National Museum of Pakistan was constructed in 1970 which is to be shifted and then demolished.

“Office of the Director General Antiquities, 25 quarters for employees of the museum, a cultural village, Shamsher-ul-Hydri Auditorium and Cafe Sindh are to be demolished soon. Yesterday, we closed very famous Café Sindh with a heavy heart. All forthcoming literary and cultural activities have been cancelled in auditorium. Cultural village has been closed. It is once again clarified that these are the Supreme Court directives and the culture department along with all other departments is bound to comply [with them].”