Manchester: Indian Communities Documented, Holi in the North-West, and South Asian Screen Stories

Greater Manchester's South Asian communities are in focus across multiple stories this week. The Manchester Mill published a rich portrait of the city's Indian communities, timed to the England-India Test at Old Trafford. Simultaneously, Holi celebrations are drawing Hindu diaspora families together across the north-west, while British-Pakistani creative talent gains national momentum with the crime drama Apnas.

🤝 Portrait of Greater Manchester's Indian Communities

With just over 69,000 residents identifying as Indian or British Indian in the 2021 Census, Greater Manchester is home to one of England's most significant South Asian communities. The Manchester Mill commissioned a photo essay by Delhi-born photographer Murtaza Rizvi to document this community during the England-India Test at Old Trafford, a natural rallying point for cricket-loving Indians across the city. The resulting portrait moves from the Gita Bhavan Hare Krishna Centre in Whalley Range to the Indian Association in Withington, capturing voices from Gujarati, Punjabi, and Bengali communities whose families arrived in Manchester from the 1950s onwards. Ramnath Aggarwal, 71, who moved from Punjab 53 years ago, reflects on a changed city: the Curry Mile that once defined Manchester's Indian identity has largely shifted to Middle Eastern cuisine, and the so-called 'Indian' curry houses of memory were often Pakistani-run. Yet community leaders are actively working to forge a unified Indian identity that transcends regional and linguistic divisions, with cricket providing the most powerful common ground. The piece notes a persistent gender gap in civic participation, with men far more willing to speak publicly than women, a pattern community organisers acknowledged as an area needing attention. [4]

🎉 Holi Brings Colour to the North-West of England

BBC coverage highlighted a calendar of Holi events planned across the north-west of England, including Greater Manchester, marking the Hindu festival of colours in early 2026. Holi signals the end of winter and celebrates the triumph of good over evil, and it sees participants joyfully cover one another with vivid coloured powders — magenta, turquoise, and yellow among the most festive hues. The BBC article, accompanied by photographs from TheBiGhit entertainment, captured the exuberant, communal character of celebrations that increasingly draw participants well beyond the Hindu South Asian diaspora. For Hindu communities in Manchester and surrounding boroughs, Holi functions as one of the year's most significant cultural and spiritual anchors, connecting second and third-generation families to their heritage. Organisers have worked to make events accessible and welcoming, turning the festival into a shared civic occasion. As the city's Indian and Hindu populations have grown, Holi has acquired a higher public profile, with local venues and entertainment groups supporting larger, more visible gatherings than in earlier decades, reflecting how South Asian festivals have become woven into Greater Manchester's cultural calendar. [2]

🎬 Apnas: British-Pakistani Crime Drama Advances Toward Nationwide Release

Eastern Eye reports that Apnas, a gritty crime drama centred on British-Pakistani cousins drawn into Manchester's criminal underworld, is advancing toward a nationwide UK release following strong early momentum. The show has attracted growing attention for its unflinching exploration of identity, family loyalty, and the pressures facing young British Pakistanis navigating street life and generational expectation. Eastern Eye, which tracks South Asian arts and culture across Britain, positions Apnas as part of a broader wave of diasporic storytelling that refuses to flatten its characters into convenient stereotypes. The series draws authentically on Manchester's Pakistani community as its setting and moral landscape. The nationwide distribution push signals commercial confidence in the crossover appeal of British-Pakistani narratives, a significant marker for a community whose stories have often been marginalised in mainstream British broadcasting. Creative industries commentators have noted that Apnas arrives at a moment of genuine audience appetite for British Asian voices in drama, following the success of other diasporic productions in recent years, and the show is expected to reach audiences both within and beyond the Pakistani community. [3]

Former Pakistani Minister on Bail Over 1990s Manchester Allegations

The Guardian reported that a former Pakistani government minister has been released on bail in Britain in connection with allegations of child rape dating to the 1990s in Manchester. The case represents a serious development in an ongoing legal investigation touching on historical abuse allegations involving an individual who previously held public office in Pakistan. The arrest has drawn attention from observers in both the UK and Pakistan, given the accused's former position of governmental authority. British courts have pursued historical abuse cases with increasing rigour regardless of the accused's nationality or prior status. For Manchester's Pakistani community, one of the city's largest South Asian groups, the case raises difficult questions about accountability and about how the actions of high-profile individuals can cast an undeserved shadow over entire communities. Community representatives and civil society voices have consistently emphasised that justice must be allowed to proceed through due process, and that the Pakistani community as a whole neither shares responsibility for these allegations nor should be defined by them. The case is expected to proceed through the British judicial system in due course. [1]

Sources: [4] manchestermill.co.uk · [2] BBC · [3] EasternEye · [1] The Guardian