32-year-old Great British Bake Off star Ali Imdad was racially abused on a Birmingham bus while travelling on the No.94 service from the city centre when a fellow passenger compared him to a "bomber".
Ali filmed the vile exchange and uploaded it on his social media. In the clip, a woman is heard telling Imdad that Asian people are “everywhere”, as she asked him, “What have you done to the country? All these bombings… people like you.” She then asked him if his parents were “born in this country”, calling him a “liar” in response to his answer.
Imdad tweeted, “Not only was I called a bomber and accused of ruining the country for being Asian, when I challenged the Karen, the driver threatened to throw me off the National Express West Midlands bus. In a packed bus, no one said a thing. No. Despite the undying urge to, I did not reply with ‘I was on the Great British Bake Off, you can’t get any more British than that.”
The footage was passed it down to the police for the matter to be investigated. The owner of Cocoa By Ali cafe near the Mailbox reportedly said that he was told to leave the bus by the driver before he was allowed to continue with his journey.
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said, "We’re investigating an alleged hate crime after a man was racially and verbally abused by another passenger while on board the 94 bus on Corporation Street, Birmingham at around 6.15pm on Sunday, December 20. In video recorded by Mr Imdad, a woman can be heard in conversation with him saying Asians were "everywhere" and blaming "people like him" for "all these bombings".
Mr Imdad told BirminghamLive: "I had just got on the packed bus, and a lady came and sat next to me. I had my headphones in and was listening to music but I could hear her moaning about something. I heard to say something along the lines of: 'This country isn't what it used to be'. I thought maybe she was talking about the pandemic but I took my headphones out just in case she meant something else. After the woman got off at her stop, a man said I shouldn't have spoken to her like that. That made me even more angry, I couldn't believe he was being serious. She had just called me a bomber in front of him and others.”
According to him a few minutes later, the bus stopped, the engine went off and the driver came over and tried to order me off the bus. He said, “The driver told me, “If you've got a problem, call the police but don't shout on my bus.'"
He has filed a complaint with West Midlands Travel and also reported the incident as a race hate crime with West Midlands Police. National Express West Midlands told BirminghamLive it was investigating the incident.
