POLICE have opened a hate crime investigation after a group of people in Glasgow were allegedly abused and told to “go back to your own country”.
Tabassum Niamat, the executive director of Bowling Green Together, a community organisation based in the Pollokshields area of the city, had said that the police were called amidst an apparently racially aggravated incident.
“We had to call the police earlier this evening because a white Scottish man started chasing the boys on their bikes, hurling abuse, swearing at them, and then young girls followed on by trying to get into the Bowling Green and swearing at the bajis [elderly women], shouting across the gate, ‘Go back to your own country, you don't belong here’,” Niamat said in a video posted to Instagram.
She went on: “This is our neighbourhood. This is where we live. Pollokshields is our home.
“We're not going to have anyone tell us to go back to our own country. This is our country.
“What I need for people to do is really take this seriously. You have neighbours, you have people that you know that are vulnerable, go help them.”
Niamat added that the level of hatred being experienced by minorities and Muslims in Scotland is “unprecedented”, adding: “It just sickens me to my stomach.”
She also noted that, earlier this week, it was confirmed that reported hate crimes had increased by 17% to a record high.
Figures for 2025-26 show there were 7115 charges containing at least one element of hate crime. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said this was the highest number reported since 2003-04, when figures first became available.
A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed that the Pollokshields incident “is being treated as a hate crime”.
They added: “Around 7.25pm on Thursday, 2 July, 2026, we received a report of a man causing a disturbance in the Kenmure Street area of Glasgow.
“Enquiries are ongoing.”
The incident comes after a series of racially motivated attacks in Scotland.
In Glasgow last month, a masked gang attacked people based on the colour of their skin. And in Edinburgh, a blade-wielding attacker shouting anti-Muslim slogans was arrested after injuring five people.
The National Podcast recently had Tabassum Niamat on to speak about her experience fighting racism and the far right in Glasgow. You can watch it in full below:
