Manchester: Holi Colours, Diwali Celebrations, a Terrorism Sentence, and a British-Pakistani Film

Manchester's South Asian communities have been in the news across a wide spectrum. Holi and Diwali celebrations underlined the city's vibrant Hindu cultural life, a new British-Pakistani film brings the Manchester diaspora story to cinema screens, and a life sentence handed to a Manchester-born man for plotting attacks on UK military bases drew national attention.

🎉 Holi lights up north-west England with colour and community

Holi, the Hindu festival of colours marking the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil, returned to the north-west of England with a packed calendar of public events. BBC News reported that while Holi itself fell on a Wednesday in early March 2026, celebrations continued across the region for up to ten days, with events planned in Manchester and surrounding areas. Participants gather to drench one another in bright powdered pigments and coloured water, accompanied by dancing, music, singing, and traditional food and sweets. The festival carries deep cultural and spiritual meaning for the Hindu community — prayers are offered, families unite, and the streets are temporarily transformed into cascades of magenta, turquoise, yellow, and green. Coverage highlighted how firmly Holi has become embedded in the public calendar of north-west England, drawing participants well beyond the Hindu community itself. Organisers across the region reported enthusiastic turnout, with families using open parks and community grounds to host colour-throwing events in a safe and inclusive environment. The spread of the festival across multiple days and venues reflects the scale of north-west England's Hindu diaspora and its confidence in public cultural celebration. [1]

🪔 BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha marks Diwali and Hindu New Year in Manchester

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha held its annual Diwali and Hindu New Year Annakut Celebrations at its Manchester centre, bringing together members of the Gujarati and wider Hindu community for an elaborate programme of devotion and festivity. Annakut — meaning mountain of food — involves the preparation and offering of an extraordinary variety of vegetarian dishes to the deity, symbolising gratitude and spiritual abundance. The celebration also marks the Hindu New Year, following closely on the heels of Diwali itself. Devotees gathered for prayers, darshan, bhajans, and cultural presentations. The BAPS Manchester mandir is one of a network of centres across the UK that participates in this annual ceremony, coordinated globally by the Swaminarayan organisation. The event reflects the vitality of the Gujarati diaspora in Manchester, which has maintained close ties to its religious and cultural heritage over generations. Such gatherings serve both a spiritual purpose and a social one, bringing families together and reinforcing community bonds across different generations of the diaspora. The Annakut display, typically featuring hundreds of dishes arranged as an offering, is one of the most visually striking expressions of the Swaminarayan tradition in the UK calendar. [2]

Manchester-born man receives life sentence for plotting attacks on UK military bases

Mohammad Asim Bashir, a Manchester-born man of Pakistani origin, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of plotting attacks on UK military bases, India Today reported in July 2026. The case drew wide coverage as one of the more serious domestic terrorism convictions in recent years involving a member of the British-Pakistani community. Prosecutors detailed an organised and deliberate plot targeting British armed forces installations, with Bashir found to have planned violence against military infrastructure within the United Kingdom. The conviction followed a trial in which the prosecution outlined the specific nature and scope of the intended targets and the degree of planning involved. Bashir, who grew up in Manchester, had been born in the city to a Pakistani family, and the case prompted discussion in reporting on British-Pakistani communities about radicalisation, belonging, and the experience of young men in northern English cities. The life sentence reflects the severity with which UK courts treat terrorism offences directed at state and military infrastructure. The case follows a series of other high-profile security proceedings in the UK in recent years involving individuals from South Asian backgrounds, and it has been covered extensively in the South Asian press. [3]

'Apnas' brings British-Pakistani Manchester story to cinema screens nationwide

Eastern Eye reports that Apnas, a British-Pakistani crime drama set within Manchester's underworld, is building momentum ahead of a planned nationwide cinema release. The film tells the story of two British-Pakistani cousins who become entangled in the criminal networks of one of England's largest cities, weaving together themes of family loyalty, identity, and the pressures faced by young men navigating life between two cultures. The title — Apnas, meaning our own in Urdu — signals the film's central tension: the pull of community bonds and the risks that can come with them. The production has attracted attention for its authentic portrayal of the Manchester Pakistani community, drawing on lived experience rather than the stereotyped depictions more commonly found in mainstream British crime drama. The project is part of a growing body of British-Asian filmmaking that addresses difficult social realities without reducing its characters to simple archetypes. Filmmakers are reported to be seeking wide distribution, with the nationwide release set to bring the story to audiences across the United Kingdom. The film's momentum reflects growing appetite for British-Pakistani narratives that engage seriously with the complexities of diaspora life in northern England. [4]

Sources: [1] BBC · [2] BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha · [3] indiatoday.in · [4] EasternEye