A BBC presenter has revealed how he was racially abused on a night out in Manchester.
In a shocking video posted on social media, BBC 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake explained how he got talking to a ‘drunk man’ outside a pub in Altrincham as he waited for his wife.
The 51-year-old radio host was asked if he was a doctor before being called a p*** and then the N-word.
Taking to Twitter to share the video, Nihal told his 115,000 followers: “So, last night this happened to me and I am still trying to process the weirdness of it. Warning there is bad language.”
Nihal went on to detail what happened on Friday night, but stopped short of revealing the name of the pub he was outside.
He said: “So I don’t really know what just happened. I was in a place called Altrincham, which is a bit of a hole.
“And I was in this pub which I’d been in with my wife, dancing around, jumping around etc. It’s fun. Covers band, they were very good.
“I saw this man sitting outside. I was waiting for my wife to come out. So I said, ‘Can I come and sit with you, can we talk?’ He was like ‘Yeah, yeah, absolutely’. Little kind of drunk man.”
But Nihal revealed the conversation quickly turned abusive with what the man to him said next.
He continued: “We got talking and he said, ‘Are you a doctor?’ So I started laughing, because as an Asian it’s the kind of question you might get asked. And I went, ‘Why would you ask that?’
“And he said ‘because you’re a p***’. Then he went ‘I guess I can’t say p***’. Then he said the N-word.
“Then he kind of looked at me and was like, ‘Oh sorry, you’re offended aren’t you’. And I said, ‘Well why did you say that word, why did you need to say that word?’
“He said, ‘Oh I’m sorry, I’m a massive C word.
“I said you’re not a massive C word, you’re just an average one. Dictators are massive C words, you’re just an average one. It was so weird.
“But you know, when you come to some of these areas, I think there are just some people who feel they can still say that word. Like what?!”
Since posting the video, which has already been viewed over 100,000 times, Nihal has been inundated with messages of support from friends and fans.
The Coral’s singer James Skelly wrote: “That’s horrible. Sorry to hear that happened to you mate.”
Poet Lemn Sissay commented: “Sorry brother. These invisible guard rails made by the mouth are the last feeble vestiges of the colonial project. He is lost, a trapped fox, drunk & lonely, cornered by your kindness, shadow boxig himself, in search of meaning. You are strong. You are the absolute shizzle!”
Another follower said: “These are the people who said it openly back in the day, then had to learn to say it in the privacy of their homes when they started getting called out on it, and now are happily saying out in the open again. They never stopped saying it though or thinking of us in that way.”
“It’s so draining still having to deal with this in 2023,” said a second, while a third said: “Sorry you heard that bro, also you dealt with it much better than most people.”
The Mirror has contacted Nihal, Greater Manchester Police and the BBC for further comment on this story.
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