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Revision as of 00:22, 8 June 2009 by Merbabu (talk | contribs) (→Reactions from the Indian diaspora and responses: please read WP:POV)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)In 2009 there were several reports of violent attacks and robberies on Indian students in Australia, particularly Melbourne. Melbourne's Indian community stated that as many as seventy Indian students had been attacked in the last year. Their attackers were from a range of ethnic backgrounds. Police believe that while some of the attacks may be racially-motivated, it is more likely part of a broader issue of escalating street violence in Australia. The frequency and ferocity of the assults garnered significant worldwide attention, with the Indian government making formal protests to the Australian government.
Background
From 2004 to 2009 the number of Indians studying in Australia rose from 30,000 to 97,000. A large proportion came from poorer, rural parts of India, with many seeking permanent residency. The cost of living in many major Australian cities made it necessary for many of these students to live in cheaper, more distant, and less safe suburbs, which had placed them at greater risk of encountering violent crime.
In 2007-2008 international education contributed A$13.7 billion to the Australian economy, measured through all categories of export earnings, including tuition fees, living expenses and tourism associated with visits from relatives. In 2006 India was second only to China as the largest source of students in Australia. International study agents in India reported that several Indian students who had been admitted to Australian universities are reconsidering their plans.
Assaults
Students using public transport late at night found themselves at risk of assault and robbery on trains and at railway stations in Melbourne's western suburbs. Several assaults were carried out by gangs of youths, some armed with baseball bats and golf sticks, and had used racial epitaphs. Many victims considered the response by the police and transit authorities to be inadequate, and had consequently organised themselves into their own protective groups to deter victimisation. The incidents reached the status of public prominence when an Australian doctor of Indian origin was attacked and hospitalised.
A far-right Australian website run by a white supremacist has declared racial holy war, or "rahowa", against Indian students, but the Australian police said the organisation was not behind any attacks. Attacks on Indians have stepped up since these diplomatic incidents
Protests
The Federation of Indian Students in Australia claimed the attacks were motivated out of racism and were not being sufficiently addressed by the Australian government, and staged a protest opposite Federation Square in Melbourne. There were allegations that police hit a protester's leg with a baton, and stomped on another student's chest, and that a police officer's hand was bitten. The Australian Police justified the action, claiming that several non-Indians had joined the protests, and to the consternation of the protest organisers, had hijacked the demonstration and used violence to pursue a separate agenda. In April 2009 a protest took place in Melbourne over attacks on taxi drivers.
Indian reaction
The attacks have provoked passionate reaction in India, largely critical, as well as among the Indian diaspora.
Reaction of the Indian Government
India's High Commissioner, Sujatha Singh, met with Victorian State Premier John Brumby to express her government's concerns over the violence. The issue has been raised in diplomatic talks between Australian Prime Minister Rudd and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Domestically, the Indian government declared that it would formulate a policy to deal with racial discrimination against Indians abroad. As part of the initiative to create an institutionalised mechanism to prevent racist attacks on Indians abroad, Vayalar Ravi, the head of the overseas Indian affairs ministry, has been tasked to protect the Indians in Australia. Ravi has called for a report on these incidents from the Indian High Commission in Australia.
Reaction from the political right
The incidents also attracted comment from various political factions in India. Members of the far-right Shiv Sena and student protesters held a demonstration outside the Australian High Commission in New Delhi, where effigies of Kevin Rudd were burnt. Shiv Sena MP Manohar Joshi warned that Australians living or travelling in India could face revenge attacks if Indians living in Australia continued to be targeted in hate crimes. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, said it would consider an Australian boycott over the bashings if authorities did not do more to protect Hindus in Australia. Indian student organisations called on the Indian government to declare Australia an "unsafe destination for Indian students".
Reaction from the political left
Left-wing politicians and organizations in India have also offered commentary on these incidents, Sitaram Yechury, a member of parliament representing the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has written that both sides of the debate have points. Economic crises and downfalls often cause rising fascism and racism against minorities, such as the rise of Nazi Germany, the Great American Depression, as well as economic downturns in India itself resulting in racist-like violence between various ethnic groups and ultra-nationalist parties in the country. Yechury indicates that the racism directed against Indians in Australia can be explained in this broader context. The left-wing All India Students Federation has also protested against the racial attacks by conducting a candle march at the India Gate, and demanded "stringent action against those behind the brutal attacks on the innocent students"..
Reaction from the political centre
The National Students Union of India (which is backed by the centrist Indian National Congress) met the Minister of State of External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor and demanded that the Centre should prevail upon the Australian government to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.
Reactions from the Indian diaspora and responses
Some Indians in Australia have said the Indian media have "blown the issue out of proportion" and noting that their coverage could overcast the real issues faced by students. Some also see other factors as being behind the attacks such as the global financial crisis.
The Foreign Secretary of India, Shiv Shankar Menon, has said "It is neither helpful nor required . The fact is that crimes were committed against our nationals and Australia must take action."
The 15th Lok Sabha representative Om Prakash Yadav writes:
- "It is too simplistic a proposition to categorically brand them as acts of criminal or opportunistic activities as uttered by Australian High Commissioner and DCP Melbourne, John McCarthy. The former has, however, not denied that some racist elements might have been involved in what he called Shameful criminal acts."
Commissioner, Simon Overland, said: "I think that some of the attacks are racially motivated. Australian High Commissioner to India John McCarthy said that there was an element of racism involved in the attacks on Indians. In addition, other Indians in Australia have charged that the Australian media is racially biased against Indians and are blaming the victims in response to the racial attacks.
Reaction from the Indian cinema industry
In addition, revenue obtained by Australia from the Indian film industry (especially Bollywood) stand jeopardized as Bollywood's largest labour union declared that its members would refuse to work in Australia until attacks on Indian students there are stopped. Dinesh Chaturvedi, the general secretary,of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees Association has declared that their associates have been instructed not to shoot films in Australia as "the situation is not normal over there"
Australian reaction
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has expressed regret for the attacks and declared that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Australia has declared that the former head of its elite Special Air Service (SAS) regiment will lead a task force examining attacks on Indian students. Duncan Lewis, now the government’s national security adviser, chaired the task force’s first meeting and would coordinate Australia’s response to the assaults. The Australian government is also considering enacting hate crime legislation that would consider prejudicial motivation as a factor in sentencing.
Other
New Zealand has responded to these attacks and subsequent incidents. The education sector in New Zealand has moved to distance itself from attacks on Indian students, saying they were "totally different societies". The Chief Executive of Education in New Zealand, Robert Stevens, has stressed to prospective students from India that New Zealand "is a different country from Australia - in the nicest possible way,", and is striving to market New Zealand to Indians in this manner. Education authorities in New Zealand are hoping recent attacks on Indian students in Australia will make New Zealand a more attractive option.
China has also expressed concern over student safety in Australia.
Rajashree Ghosh, a resident scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, has analyzed the incidents in the broader context of racism and xenophobia in Australia, as well as other motivations like economic downturns. She writes that, although economic downturns are correlated with rising scapegoating of minorities, and that although immigrant-based countries like the United States and Australia tend to experience less xenophobia and racism than ethnic nation states such as the ones in Europe, these latest incidents against Indians indicate that Australia has seen the emergence of anti-immigration sentiment in society.
See also
References
- Racist attacks in Australia a shame, says Aamir Khan
- Another Indian student stabbed in Australia pleaded with attackers
- 4th attack in Australia: Petrol bomb hurled at Indian
- Doherty, Ben (1 June 2009). "Racist attacks force snub by Bollywood great". The Age. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Indian students describe Sydney attacks. ABC News. June 03, 2009.
- Indian student attacked by gang. NEWS.com.au. June 02, 2009.
- Hindu extremists burn Rudd effigies
- India Protests: Attacks on Students, Swaraaj Chauhan
- City's new underclass forced to suffer in silence, The Age
- IDP Education Export Statistics
- Australia attacks may push education profit line Down Under
- Despairing students find own protection, The Age
- China concerned over student attacks in Australia Reuters
- 'Disgusting' website urged offensive against Indians, news.com.au
- Another Indian student attacked in Australia
- Thousands rally against racism in Melbourne - Times of India
- Australian cops punch, stomp on peaceful protesters
- Overland defends use of force to move protesters; Indian students protest over race attacks; Coverage of Indian student assaults 'irresponsible'
- Melbourne Cabbies hold street sit-in, The West Australian
- Australians protest over racial violence
- Australia: Indian university students protest racist attacks
- "Policy soon to deal with racial discrimination abroad: Preneet Kaur". Times of India. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Vayalar Ravi takes charge of overseas Indian affairs ministry
- Hodge, Amanda and Dodd, Mark (2009). "Consumer boycott threat over attacks on Indians". The Australian. Retrieved 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Australians protest over racial violence
- This way lies disaster
- ^ AISF takes out candle march to protest racial attacks in Oz, The Hindu
- Indians in Oz blame media for blowing issue out of proportion
- Attacks overblown as racist, says India's first student to Australia
- “Australia must take action”,The Hindu
- Racial attacks in Australia: Why Indians only?, by Om Prakash Yadav, Merinews
- brisbanetimes.com.au
- ibnlive.in.com
- Indians being misrepresented, say Puneites in Oz, Times of India
- Bollywood union boycotts Australia over attacks
- Bollywood says NO to Australia,Rediff.com
- Rudd says Indian student attackers will be brought to justice
- Ex-SAS head to lead response to Indian attacks
- We're different, New Zealand tells Indian students
- Oz Racial Attacks:NZ tries to lure Indian students
- Indian students 'safe in New Zealand', news.com.au
- Aid Sought for Students,
- Crikey wrap: Indian press on Australia’s racism
- Ghosh: Examining race and immigration, Rajashree Ghosh
External Links
- Time: Racial Attacks Trouble Indian Students in Australia - TIME
- 'Curry bashing' draws more protests from Indians in Australia
- Indian Students Claim Epidemic of Racist Violence in Australia - Voice of America
