Bristol: Undercover reporters face racial abuse

Bristol: Undercover reporters face racial abuse

See also the report on the Panorama site.


Two BBC reporters of South Asian origin who lived for eight weeks on a housing estate in Bristol, posing as a married Muslim couple with limited English, were racially abused more than 50 times, a documentary will show tonight. The edition of Panorama, titled Hate on the Doorstep, also features the pair suffering physical assault. Reporter Amil Khan, who was pretending to be a part-time painter and decorator, was punched in the head by a local man. Tamanna Rahman, who wore a hijab headscarf and acted as if she spoke very little English, was pelted with stones and glass and on one occasion an 11-year-old boy tried to steal her purse, threatening to kill her.


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Using secret cameras, Rahman and Khan filmed themselves being abused regularly, both for their race – "Paki" was a common term of abuse – and over their religion, with a number of jibes used related to terrorism, including "Taliban" and "jihad". A good deal of the abuse on the estate is shown to come from children and teenagers, although adults are also involved.


Rahman tells the film that while the reaction to her "husband" from local people was unpredictable, she is "bullied and abused just about every time I step outside the door", an experience ranging from physical attack to muttered insults.


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Source: Guardian