A number of allegedly racially motivated attacks against the Indian community has led to the Ireland-India Council postponing India Day.
The event was due to take place in Farmleigh House in Phoenix Park on the 17th August. In the words of the organisers - '[celebrate] Irish-Indian culture, music, dance, and friendship,' but the decision has been made to mark the event later than advertised.
Andrea Gilligan spoke to members of the Indian and Pakistani communities on Lunchtime Live who have been affected by the attacks.
Indian community in Ireland
Ardash Shukla, owner of Delhi2Dublin, says it didn’t come as a surprise to him that the celebration has been postponed.
“The Indian community is a sensitive community and we want to stand in solidarity with the victims.
“A lot of our friends in Dublin are very scared to go out for usual daily stuff, even to go and get groceries.
"We have to ask: is it the right time to go, is it a safe place to go? To be honest, we haven’t had a walk in the park for the last two years."
'We are afraid to go out'
He says that he drops his colleagues home from work as he is too scared to leave them to go out by themselves.
Rahul Bedi, a journalist based in New Delhi joined the show and described how he hears of similar racially motivated incidents elsewhere:
“These attacks against the Indian and Pakistanis are happening across the western world.
Sarah is from Pakistan and joined the show to highlight the importance of celebrations like India Day.
“These types of celebrations often become multicultural; they’re a very good learning experience for others as well.
“They bring people together from different backgrounds.”
Read more: Silent vigil after 'racist attack' in Dublin
However, Damien Lee, co-chair of the Ireland India Council described the fear that is growing amongst the Indian community:
“Think about it, you’re seven or eight thousand miles from home; you’re in your early 20s, you’re getting beaten up, intimidated - you’re afraid to go on public transport."
He described the integral role that the Indian community play in Irish society:
“Look at our health service; 55% of all of our nurses this year were Indian-born; only 22% are from Ireland.
“We couldn’t survive as an economy at the moment if we didn’t have the Indian folk in IT, banking, insurance - never mind healthcare.
“This has been all over the Indian media for the last few weeks; think about their families at home.
"There's a sense of concern for their sisters, daughters, friends who have come here.”
Written by Cara McHugh
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