‘Is That Apu From The Simpsons?' Pakistani-origin Doctor Mocked By Irish Children
The teen responded by telling Dr Salman to "shut up" and began mocking him using a caricatured Indian accent, impersonating the character Apu from The Simpsons.
An Irish-born doctor of Pakistani origin was racially abused by a group of children, some as young as 10, outside a shopping centre in Navan.
Taimoor Salman, a medical registrar at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, said he was leaving Blackcastle Shopping Centre after 9 pm last Thursday when the abuse took place. As he stepped into his car, a young boy on a bicycle repeatedly hurled a racial slur at him.
'I said he was being rude," Salman recounted. As he began to reverse, an older teenager approached and asked him if he had said something. 'I told him that his friend had been rude," he said.
Born in Ireland to Pakistani parents, Dr Salman spent his early childhood in Navan before moving abroad. He returned in 2017 with his wife and young daughter, drawn back by fond childhood memories and what he once considered a welcoming community.
The teen responded by telling Dr Salman to 'shut up" and began mocking him using a caricatured Indian accent, impersonating the character Apu from The Simpsons, a portrayal widely criticised in recent years for promoting ethnic stereotypes. At that point, Dr Salman chose to leave the scene.
'I just left. I didn't say anything more as they were children," he said.
Dr Salman described the experience as 'stunning and upsetting." While he has witnessed casual racism before, he said it was 'insidious" to see such behaviour coming from children, who he had always believed were more accepting of other nationalities. 'There seems to be a horrible pack mentality," he added.
'This wave of hatred to people of colour is quite recent and increasingly more open and brash. I've been back in Ireland for 15 years. In 2017, it was a peaceful and safe place and I could walk anywhere at any time without fear. Now it is too unsafe and I would only go to crowded places," he said.
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First Published:
August 05, 2025, 17:21 IST
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