Indian community in NI 'afraid' after racially-motivated arson attack

The Indian community in Northern Ireland "feel afraid" after a racially-motivated arson attack on a grocery store in north Belfast, the chairman of the Indian Community Centre has said.

The store which was to open in the coming months was destroyed after a blaze in the early hours of Saturday.

Dr Satyavir Singhal said he would be willing to meet with the people behind the attack on the former gospel hall on the Shankill Road.

"If they feel in some way that it will harm the area, we can sit and talk together."

"There are no issues on this planet which cannot be solved by talking to each other," he added.

The chairman, who is also a consultant at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, said "people are scared" after the attack.

"I personally am hurt and deeply saddened by the incident," he told BBC News NI.

"People are calling and asking how things are" and "Is this area safe?"

He also said people who use the community centre have been concerned after riots in Ballymena in June 2025.

He has been in Northern Ireland for 25 years and said: "The Indian community has been here since the 1930s and we've been living, working together... and there has never been a problem like this."

People Before Profit assembly member Gerry Carroll said migrant communities are stockpiling food because "they're fearful of another summer of unrest".

"We've got a growing migrant community, that should be a welcome thing," he added.

On Saturday, the owner who bought the building last year told BBC News NI that he was heartbroken by what had happened.

The man, who does not wish to be named, is originally from India and has been in Northern Ireland for 18 years.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the building had been "totally gutted" by the blaze.