A group of teenage Indian cricketers were chased and threatened by racist thugs in Belfast, and police said they are investigating a racist motive to the incident. The young tourists, who were in Northern Ireland as members of an under-19 cricket tour, were terrified by the incident, according to a report in The Times. Five of the tourists were chased by up to 16 youths as they walked around the city on Sunday, while a house in which some of them were staying was stoned. Nobody is believed to have been hurt in the incidents. Politicians condemned the attack saying it confirmed Belfast’s reputation as “Europe’s racist capital”. Naomi Long, a Cross-Community Alliance Party member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, said: “This is yet another low — a racist attack on visitors to our city. Locals and visitors alike will be suitably alarmed. This is another reminder of the need to destroy the scourge of racism in our society.” Bhasker Sharma, one of the cricket team members, said “about 15 to 16 boys came and I don’t know what happened. They just started chasing us.” Rajeev Khanna, another team member, said: “It is not the first time we have come to the UK. It’s been our eighth or ninth time.and we have never faced this situation anywhere in the UK.” Robin Newton, the Democratic Unionist Party councilor for East Belfast, said: “It is disgraceful that gifted young sportsmen cannot wander around admiring the capital without local thugs attempting to do them harm.”
