Oz is in denial. It is just not a good time for Australia. On the one hand it is battling a swine flu epidemic that is washing ashore mostly in the form of cruise ship passengers, and on the other is watching its reputation being torn to shreds over a spate of attacks on Indian students that the victims allege are racially motivated.
What shocks Indians like me the most is the Australian government's stubborn refusal to acknowledge that at least some of the attacks are obvious outcomes of racial hatred. Certainly brings to mind the image of an ostrich doing what it does best in a sandy patch. With all due respect to the authorities, but so many sudden attacks on brown-skinned folks can't possibly be "opportunistic" crimes. I find it hard to believe that struggling Indian students have suddenly become mugger-magnets.
The only official so far to concede a possible racial motive in some cases has been Victorian state police chief Simon Overland. But then he also added that a few of the attacks were "opportunistic".
Back in India, most of us had no idea that Indians were being targeted until late last month when we read about a student being stabbed with a screwdriver and left battling for his life. Soon after came the petrol bombing of another Indian student's home in Sydney. Only now are we learning from news reports that such assaults have been fairly common for several years, especially in and around Melbourne. But it appears the frequency and hate quotient have dramatically risen since the end of May.
News reports suggest that victims of attacks before May 2009 hestitated going to the police to press charges for fear of losing any chance of making a future for themselves in Australia. Some have even alleged that the police simply refused to record the crimes.
I appreciate Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's appeal for calm and request to refrain from doling out vigilante justice, but he must understand that the Indian student community - which is reported to be about 90,000 strong - is angry, vulnerable and probably a little scared.
These are young people. You push them, they will push back. So use of excessive force trying to break up their protests is probably not the way to win their confidence. Maybe you should sit down and talk to them. Hear them out. And please stop burying your head in the sand Australia. It is perhaps time to recognise that you might have a racial problem on your hands.
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acts of racial violence against brown students can be found in the U. S. too. we've been thrown out of bars because we had an indian passport, unless a white friend accompanied us. my friend was hit on his head with a bat by some drunk drivers who also yelled racial epithets at him. all this was in a racial university town, of course, but i found evidence of it at other universities towns too.
ReplyDeleteit's yucky when it happens. truly.
true
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