An Indian businessman who dreamed of opening his grocery store in an abandoned building in Belfast that he had bought is left with nothing after some people deliberately set the building on fire. The arson attack at a former gospel hall on the Shankill Road began in the early hours of Saturday. The owner, who bought it last year and is preparing to open an Indian supermarket, said he did not expect to encounter such racism in Ireland, where he had lived for 18 years.“My entire life’s investment was spent on this and we had no insurance on it because the electrician was doing the work,” he said.“Everything was gutted and burned,” he said.Police confirmed that it was arson, with the fire deliberately set on the roof.The Indian-origin business owner did not want to reveal his name while speaking to the BBC. He said that people were celebrating when the building burnt down. “My entire life’s investment was spent on this and we had no insurance on it because the electrician was doing the work,” he said.“There was no empathy. This is the world I didn’t expect when we came here. This is a racist hate crime. I started feeling people’s reactions a few weeks ago. Reactions from people standing across the street. They were not welcoming. I found them very offensive.”“There were premises for sale, and that was great for our business. There was no particular reason for the Shankill area, it was just a building for sale in the town. It’s my life savings. I’m completely exhausted emotionally, financially and mentally. I couldn’t sleep last night and I am not even in the mental state to speak.“You can’t understand what I am going through. I have two children. There is a small family here, we are alone. We have nothing now, everything is gone. I have to think how to feed my children… I don’t know who will come forward to help us, protect us.“I was just trying to open a business. Now I don’t even feel safe standing there. We came to Northern Ireland to make this our home… Now I don’t know what I’m going to do. My brain isn’t working… I’m so scared.”