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.
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