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Pak`s only brewery fights for its life in hostile world
Islamabad, Aug 07: This brewery`s chief executive does not drink beer, the quality controller does not test his own products and the brewmaster is banned by law from consuming alcohol.
Islamabad, Aug 07: This brewery's chief executive does not drink
beer, the quality controller does not test his own products and the
brewmaster is banned by law from consuming alcohol.
The Murree Brewery in Rawalpindi, near the capital of Islamabad, is in many ways a bizarre company.
Founded by the British colonial authorities in 1861, the Murree brewery is the only company of its kind existing in the strictly religious country, in which almost the entire population is banned from drinking alcohol.
The growing fundamentalist movement would like to see the laws on alcohol made even more stringent and to close down the small brewery entirely. Of Pakistan's 140 million population, 97 per cent are Muslim, and since 1977 the law has laid down that they may not drink alcohol.
Members of the remaining population groups have to seek special permission from the state to be allowed to buy beer and stronger alcohol from the few and strictly controlled shops that sell it legally.
Isphanyar Bhandara is chief executive at the Murree Brewery, which produces spirits alongside its main beer line. His family owns the company. The Bhandaras are Zoroastrian Parsees and are thus not subject to the ban on alcohol consumption imposed on Muslims, but most of the staff at the brewery are Muslims and compelled by law not to drink.
Nevertheless the 30-year-old chief executive is quite open about his preference for cola. ''I simply don't like beer,'' Bhandara says while showing off his brewery, where imported German hops and locally produced barley malt are brewed in German-made equipment.
Huma Zubair, the biochemist who monitors the product, also does not like beer, while the Fakhir Mahmoud, a quality control expert avoids beer as he is a Muslim.
When they went to Munich for in-service training to improve their brewing skills they generated amazement among their German colleagues. Bureau Report
Founded by the British colonial authorities in 1861, the Murree brewery is the only company of its kind existing in the strictly religious country, in which almost the entire population is banned from drinking alcohol.
The growing fundamentalist movement would like to see the laws on alcohol made even more stringent and to close down the small brewery entirely. Of Pakistan's 140 million population, 97 per cent are Muslim, and since 1977 the law has laid down that they may not drink alcohol.
Members of the remaining population groups have to seek special permission from the state to be allowed to buy beer and stronger alcohol from the few and strictly controlled shops that sell it legally.
Isphanyar Bhandara is chief executive at the Murree Brewery, which produces spirits alongside its main beer line. His family owns the company. The Bhandaras are Zoroastrian Parsees and are thus not subject to the ban on alcohol consumption imposed on Muslims, but most of the staff at the brewery are Muslims and compelled by law not to drink.
Nevertheless the 30-year-old chief executive is quite open about his preference for cola. ''I simply don't like beer,'' Bhandara says while showing off his brewery, where imported German hops and locally produced barley malt are brewed in German-made equipment.
Huma Zubair, the biochemist who monitors the product, also does not like beer, while the Fakhir Mahmoud, a quality control expert avoids beer as he is a Muslim.
When they went to Munich for in-service training to improve their brewing skills they generated amazement among their German colleagues. Bureau Report