India Day celebrations due to be held in Dublin have been postponed following a “spate of violent attacks” on members of its community in recent months.
The co-chairman of the Ireland India Council, Prashant Shukla, said making the decision was “very difficult” and “emotional”, but that the safety and security of the community was more important.
He said the event has been held in Ireland since 2015 and this had never happened before.
Hundreds of performers had been preparing for the event at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park on Sunday.
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“We are not too much concerned about the safety at the event, we are more concerned about the perception on social media,” he said adding that they had created a perception that Indians had “taken over the state” and had caused housing problems.
“So we want to actually balance these counter narratives, they are very very negative.
“We will review the situation and we will announce new dates for India Day this year.”
The announcement was made after representatives of the Indian community met with Tánaiste Simon Harris at Government Buildings on Monday.
Mr Shukla said he raised their concerns about what he said was “organised propaganda” online targeting the Indian community in Ireland.
[ The Irish Times view on racist attacks: no place for hate on our streetsOpens in new window ]
He said incidents of violent assaults began after the Dublin riots in November 2023, but had increased significantly since January this year.
Mr Shukla said the ministers in the meeting outlined actions they would take in the next two weeks.
“The Dublin riots was actually the first time when these things actually started,” he said.
“But I feel after actually January this year, there’s a lot of propaganda going on. So social media accounts created and closed in a few days.
“That gives me the indication that it is some sort of organised agenda, organised propaganda, that is specifically targeted to Indians, because whenever we have the situation, this time only, the Indians are attacked and identified.
“In the past, there was casual violent incidents, that I can understand, they can happen anywhere in the world. But behind there was no such campaign of hate and incitement of the violence.”
Attacks against members of the Indian community in Ireland have been highlighted in recent weeks after an Indian man was the victim of an unprovoked attack in Tallaght, Dublin, last month.
A silent vigil was held outside the Department of Justice by Friends Of India in response.
The Indian embassy in Dublin has also issued a warning that there has been “an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently”.
They said Indian citizens in Ireland should take “reasonable” precautions and avoid deserted areas.
Mr Harris said on Sunday that he was “deeply concerned” about the incidents and that one of the most concerning things was the “very young age of those that have been involved in some of this racist activity”.
The Ireland India Council said it wanted assaults on members of the Indian community to be recognised and recorded as hate crimes, to ensure the offences are “appropriately recorded and addressed”.
It has called for a cross-departmental taskforce on hate crime and youth violence and “legislative reform” to hold parents more accountable for the actions of their children.
It also called for enhanced policing, swift prosecution of offenders, and an outreach programme to affected communities.
On Sunday, Minister of State with responsibility for migration Colm Brophy said he wanted the incoming Garda commissioner Justin Kelly to prioritise addressing these incidents.
“We actually have seen a drop in serious crime, but in this particular area, we have seen a rise in the type of attacks,” he told RTÉ Radio.
“I think there needs to be a stronger policing response in this area because there’s two aspects to these attacks which I think are very very unacceptable.
“The first is obviously the attack itself, and the second then is the recording and videoing of it and the disseminating of it on social media and there’s a role that has to be dealt with there as well.” - PA
