Galway’s Indian community sees rise in racist attacks
Galway’s Indian community has not been spared the rise in racist attacks which President Michael D Higgins this week described as “despicable”.
A community leader in Galway told the Galway City Tribune that as recently as this week, there had been racially motivated attacks — both physical and verbal — giving rise to growing fears among Indian people who have made Galway their home.
Jay Shah, who is President of Indian Cultural and Sports Community Galway (ICSC), said rising levels of anti-Indian sentiment and racism had left the community “shocked”.
And Mr Shah, who said he wished to emphasise that the racial hatred came from a “small but criminal minority” in the city, attributed its growth to social media platforms where hateful rhetoric, against Indian people and other migrants, was being spread on a daily basis.
“We have seen a trend on TikTok and Snapchat that provokes this.
“A lot of the ideology is coming from online, particularly X (formerly Twitter),” said Mr Shah.
“There is a lot of anti-India activity on X. People are following that and becoming brainwashed. It’s a small minority, but it is a criminal minority,” he continued.
There are real-world consequences for the hate and vitriol spread on these platforms and Mr Shah said there had been a number of incidents in Galway City where members of the Indian community have been targeted by racists — one attack happened just this week.
“I was made aware in the past two days that an adult woman pushed a shopping trolley into an Indian woman and verbally abused her,” he said of the incident which is alleged to have taken place in Newcastle.
Serious assaults on Indians have made global headlines in recent weeks — a vicious attack on an Indian man in South Dublin last month drew a spotlight on just how serious the situation has got.
Pictured: Jay Shah: Racial hatred coming from a “small but criminal minority”.