Indian Restaurant Is Feeding Displaced Armenians Amid Deadly Clashes

Fresh clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh in the South Caucasus have left around 220 people dead and hundreds displaced ever since the unrest began two weeks ago.

But there has been one Parvez Ali Khan, an Indian by origin, who has lend a helping hand to many.

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Parvez's restaurant Indian Mehak Restaurant and Bar has been delivering packages of cooked food to those forced to flee their homes in the disputed region. Khan, a 47-year-old from Patiala, India, had moved to Armenia five years ago with his wife and two daughters, in the hope of economic prospects and now runs the restaurant.

A two-year-old establishment, the restaurant is located in the heart of capital Yerevan, just minutes away from Republic Square.

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On October 4, on the restaurant¡¯s Facebook page, the family announced that they were providing freshly-cooked Indian food to people who had fled the Nagorno-Karabakh region and were seeking refuge in the capital. Overnight, he turned his kitchen into a space where his staff could prepare hundreds of food packages to distribute in the capital. Khan told a local publication that he used up funds he had saved for a new restaurant he wanted to open in Prague.

Since then, Khan and his family, along with four employees, have been working 12-hour shifts to prepare boxes with rice and naan, chole bhature, dishes with potatoes, brinjal etc., all cooked to suit the preferences of native Armenians.

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The deed has earned the family much respect and recognition resulting in their social media to blow up. They now get hundreds of calls each day. While some callers have been requesting for food packages, many others have reached out to the restaurant to offer assistance in any way they can.

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The restaurant has gotten an outpouring of support from people across Armenia and even those in the diaspora. Many have left them messages of gratitude, promising to visit the restaurant when they can.