2 more attacks on Indians in Australia

Indians face 2 more attacks in Melbourne, Australia. . This happened after a team of police officers and educationists arrived in India to counsel students interested in pursuing studies in Australia.

This time it was Ashish Sood studying at the Carrik Institute. He was badly beaten by a notorious group of 15 youngsters on Saturday 30th May at the Chapel street. The report was published in a local community newspaper “South Asian Times” in Melbourne.

Ashish Sood, 28, along with 3 others were attacked by youth who started joking and mistreating them for nothing and then attacked  them, the report said.

Ashish was hit by a assumed metal object and the police was called in, the report said family sources. Ashish was admitted to Alfred Hospital with injuries and later discharged.

A 35-year old taxi driver from Hyderabad was also attacked on Sunday by a drunk passenger following a vehicle broke down. The driver went unconscious after the attack and was taken to the hospitalby a policeman. The policeman also caught  hold of the attacker.

‘Australia shouldn’t be considered a racist nation’

The president of the Australian Alumni Association Rishi Singla said “We must not think of Australia as a bad country or a racist country,”. The latest attacks on the Indian Students studying in Australia could be the acts of petty criminals, drug addicts, or junkies who look out for soft targets to attacks. 

The Australian Alumni Association, an umbrella organization in India in lieu of Indians who studied in Australia and includes all ex-students of the Indian origin from the 38 Australian universities. This organization has chapters in Hyderabad, Banglore, Chennai and Mumbai.

Rishi Singla said “Let us not conclude that Australia is a racist country or a country where outsiders are treated badly. We need to give time to the government to investigate the incidents,” .He also said that he could not recall a single case of racial bias during his nine years in Australia.

Australia has been attracting a huge number of Indian students and has around 75,000 Indian students, as per Australian Educational International.

Singla pointed out “With the number of Indian students increasing in Australia ,several Australian universities are opening their branches in India to woo more students,”

Rishi Singla lived in Australia from 1998 to 2007 and returned to India as he had a family business to take care of. “Most Indian students wish to take up permanent residence in Australia,” said Singla, adding that his two daughters were born in Australia. The mixed culture in Australia is what attracts most of the Indian students, he added.

Singla, who was the president of the Indian Students Association at Griffith University in Brisbane, with 500 Indian students as its members said he had happy memories of Indian night events in which both Indian and Australian student participated.

Australian government on racist attacks on Indians

Australia in conclusion accepted that the attacks on Indian students were a ‘problem’ and guaranteed New Delhi of steps to avoid such assaults. Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith  said “ We have a particular current problem with Indian students”

The minister’s comment came in the midst of anger and concern in India at the recent wave of the racist attacks on Indian students. The foreign minister in an interview with Australian television channel said “We’re doing everything that we can both with the Indian community in Australia and India itself and also working closely with the relevant state authorities.”Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken up the matter with his Australian counterpart Kevin Kudd.

Australian government has guaranteed India that a list of steps, including increased patrolling and setting up of a hotline have been taken to make sure that safety of over 80,000 Indian students in the country . Mr Smith said Australia was trying to bring the attackers to justice and make sure a safe environment for all international students.

“Australia generally has low crime rate,” he said. Four attacks have taken place on Indian students. While a petrol bomb was thrown at an Indian student in Sydney last Sunday, three attacks took place in Melbourne.

Indians rally against racist attack in Australia

After the frequent racial assaults against Indians, thousands of Indian students along with numerous supporters rallied on Sunday 31st, May 2009 demanding justice for recent attacks and victims.

The ‘Peace rally’ was organized by the Federation of Indian students in Australia (FISA) and national union of students among others, it started from outside the Royal Melbourne hospital. This is where the 25 year old Shravan Kumar is admitted since May 9 when he was stabbed with a screwdriver by a group of Australian teenagers. Kumar has come out of comma and has moved his hand and is still under observation

There were 5,000 marchers who walked down the Victoria Parliament House on Spring street, holding placards with slogans reading ‘We are the Economy builders’, ‘We want Justice’, and ‘End Racist Attacks’. The State opposition leader Ted Baillieu and other leading community members also joined the rally.

These were the demands made by Indians

• Multi-cultural police force for Victoria, which houses 47,000 of the 95,000 Indian students in Australia.
  
  
• Crime statistics to be made public and sought racial tolerance and awareness.
  

The Australian government appeared to be reaching out, with foreign minister Stephan Smith admitting that the attacks were a ‘current problem’ facing the Indian community.