# @baljitrihal on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcVv9qmoQXP
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69416458-baljitrihal-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/73105b670f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-22T11:07:31.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Baljit Singh Rihal (@baljitrihal) — https://gondola.cc/baljitrihal

## Caption

Growing up, seeing a Sikh on mainstream television was rare. On the odd occasion someone wearing a turban appeared on screen, we’d literally shout across the house, “Come quick, lookasingh on TV!” before they disappeared.

Looking back, it’s a memory that makes me smile, but seeing someone who looked like you on television really did mean something.

This picture from the Sky Sports studio last weekend made me think back to those days. Seeing a turbaned Sikh on television is thankfully not as unusual as it once was, but there is still much more scope for greater diversity among the regular faces we see presenting and appearing across mainstream platforms.

We talk a lot through the Asian Football Awards about South Asian representation in football, but representation goes beyond the pitch. It is also about seeing diversity reflected in the media, in leadership and in the spaces that shape what people believe is possible.

“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it” is something we often say around the Awards, and there is a lot of truth in it. Visibility helps normalise ambition.

So whenever I get the opportunity to talk about South Asians in football on mainstream television, I hope the conversation makes a difference. And perhaps, in a small way, the visibility does too.

There is certainly more visibility than there was when I was growing up, but there is still a long way to go. Hopefully there will come a time when seeing a Sikh on TV doesn’t make anyone stop and take notice. It’s simply normal..

#Singh #Representation #Visibility #Sikh #Punjabi

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 96
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- **Comments:** 5

## Tags

punjabi, singh, representation, visibility, sikh

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