Police are treating the incident in Pollokshields as a hate crime.
A group of young Muslim boys were allegedly chased in Glasgow by a man who shouted racist abuse, including telling them to “go back to your own country.”
The incident is said to have happened on Kenmure Street in Pollokshields at around 7.25pm on Thursday, July 2.
Police Scotland confirmed officers were called to reports of a man causing a disturbance and said enquiries are ongoing. The incident is being treated as a hate crime, Glasgow Live reports.
The allegations have sparked concern among local residents, with community activist Tabassum Niamat warning of growing fears among minority communities in Glasgow.
The incident comes just days after figures revealed a 17 per cent rise in charges relating to race hate crime across Scotland.
Tabassum, who played a leading role during the Kenmure Street immigration protest in 2021, said: “The rise of hate crimes, and the discriminatory language that has become normalised, due to careless politicians who have made minorities and Muslims scapegoats, has led to people like us having to look over our shoulder.
“There is a real fear that the most vulnerable in our communities will get hurt, and that we are heading towards the same conditions that swept across Europe 100 years ago. Fascism is here.”
In a video shared on social media, she alleged a man chased the boys while they were riding their bikes and directed racist abuse towards them before targeting a group of young girls.
She said: “A white Scottish man started chasing the boys on their bikes, hurling abuse, swearing at them and then the young girls followed on by trying to get into the Bowling Green and swearing at the bajis (sisters). They shouted, ‘Go back to your own country, you don’t belong here.’
“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.”
In response to the incident, Tabassum said she has launched a Pollokshields Watch group to help support local residents.
She added: “We’re not being vigilantes here. We’re not doing the police’s work for them. But what we are going to do is protect our neighbours.
“We’re going to make sure that no child is being unnecessarily harassed and no elderly lady or man is going to be threatened. Please be careful… look after those who are vulnerable in your communities. This is just not on.
“It’s unprecedented, this level of hatred towards minorities and Muslims. It just sickens me to my stomach.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “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.”
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