The mailtoday newspaper has gone further with another cartoon lampooning the Victorian police and the state of Indian students studying in Australia.
Read more in the paper about how the Australian police have systematically ignored the racist attacks on Indian students. 1447 people of Indian origin were either robbed or assaulted in the previous one year in Australia. Yet the Aussie police refuse to acknowledge the targetted violence.
Its high time the parents in India realise that its not worth sending your kids to Australia to study some god forsaken courses for which there is no future anyway, but also that there is no future in contributing to increasing the Aussie education market. Lest your kids come back in body bags.
Similar articles on Australia on this blog previously
Now Murali ends up with an egg on the face
Racism in Cricket? Read the damning Aussie report
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I agree with you Philip. The correct and matured reaction is exactly this. Parents should stop sending their kids to Australia.
Yes, the Indian government must issue an advisory against studying in Aus. But what about the people already there?
Let there be a social boycott to Australians in India.
Let film industry stop location shooting in Australia.
Hit the Australians where it hurts most.
We can not depend upon MEA to take any action.They make only statements without any action.
Hi, Was wondering if you would be interested to participate in a Singapore Indiblogger meet ,if so please let me know ?
Don’t you feel most of us, including the comments are kind of knee jerk reactions? Its true that there are racial problems in Australia, so the case in ALL countries of the world. I have sympathy for the man who was killed in that park but that neighbourhood seem to be a breeding ground for the lawless, so he shouldn’t have been lurking the premises at the late hours of night. I think even if it was Arnold Schwarzzenegar, he would’ve been robbed.
I’m not supporting the Aussies for the attacks, but the media on both sides must show some goddamn maturity. They’re flaring things up and making matters worse.
Do we have any proof that these are all race related? I spoke to my cousin brother who is in Oz for the past 17 years and he says its all bull-shit! So do majority of the residents in Oz. Why don’t we speak to our countrymen down there and see the truth instead of boiling over some crappy senseless cartoons which leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth?
Tell me Liju, which city do you think is more safe for an average man with an i-pod, mobile and a heavy purse walking alone at 01:30 hrs mane? New Delhi or Sydney? And the colour of your skin doesn’t matter to petty criminals.
If Australia starts to ask questions about how safe Indians are in India then we may end up with our foot in the mouth. We mustn’t categorize any nation for the actions of a few rowdy goons, they exist everywhere, i mean everywhere…
Colour of the skin and/or something that reveals to them of somebody is new in the country can make them easy targets. Our countrymen who have been there LONGER do not necessarily see (or face) things happening from that perspective.
If it was one or two it would’ve been different, so i see there is a clear cause for it to be a serious concern.
With regards to us being not safe in India is out of context here. An Australian asking the same is outrageous. Our problems are our problems, we have plenty of them and we are well aware of that.
I agree that one has to follow safe measures before they walk into trouble in this so called developed/modern world. It may be as simple as this and nothing else as it is portrayed as for us to believe in, hopefully!!!
The following should have gone at the end of first paragraph – sorry!
But, it is coincidentally true of lot of our students going there.
Just for residency students go there to do cookery and hair styling courses. Its time parents realise that there is better life in India itself.
For people already there, the govt must use other diplomatic / economic means of pressurizing the Aussies to get the culprits faster.
All this boycott and travel advisory had to be issued earlier itself. The govt has been as usual dilly dallying to the Aussies.
Imagine the muck the Aussies would have raised had a single Aussie been attacked in India?
Thanks for the offer, but am sorry i dont think i would be able to find time to make it.
1447 attacks in one year on people of Indian origin and you still believe the Aussie govt’s theory that its random violence? Even if there was a single random violence against an Aussie in India and would you believe they would have kept quiet? I know our media sensationalizes everything, but so many incidents cant be swept under the carpet.
I have at least 10-15 friends in Singapore (all races) who have been to Aus for study / travel / pleasure etc and almost everyone has some story of racist abuse / intimidation / violence being hurled at them. These friends of mine are Chinese, Indian, Malay etc. Your cousin might have been plain lucky. Though i do admit that i also have some Indian friends in Aus who are yet to experience any racial violence there.
To say that we cant complain just because India also has violence is like Narendra Modi saying that his hand in killing thousands of Muslims is ok simply because the Congress has its hands full of thousands of Sikh blood.
Telling a person that they can get mugged / robbed for carrying a cellphone or an iPod is like blaming a woman who has been molested / raped for wearing revealing clothes.
It that indeed is true, then Aus has a horrible situation on its hands. It really needs to get its house in order before trying to cover itself behind the fig leaf of normalcy.
And its time the Indian govt shows some spine and shows the Aussie govt its place.
Where I do agree with the point that we have our own problems beck home and it is no excuse for our citizens to get banged up abroad, I still doubt the nature of these 1447 numbers w.r.t race.
These are huge cities and the crime rate will be higher, just like our Mumbai or Delhi. There has been an article written by an Indian student from Melbourne which kinda summarizes the story. I’ll get the link for you, sorry I couldn’t find it now. Australia has strong rules preventing racial vilification and abuse and they work well on the ground (quoting our community people in Oz). I had a long chat about this with my cousin and a fellow blogger from Trivandrum who is now in Brisbane and they feel Aussies are one of the most wonderful people in the world. Some of our students, especially from certain part of our country, behave in an uncultured and in an ignorant manner in Australia that they put to shame the majority of decent Indians. I checked out the recent attacks which could’ve been race-related and bingo!
I think we’d have done the same if some bloody ignorant foreigner came to our country and started assaulting our culture and heritage. Not being wild, but if the media on both sides are going to flare up the situation then I’m afraid things may start going out of control for us. Race is in the minds of us all, we have to accept it, and such klu-klux-klan jokes happen again then things are going to get worse.
Another interesting thing struck me. Yesterday a Sikh driver was killed here in London by some thugs and I never found the news in the same colour in our media. Or is it that now only ‘Australia’ sells?
Liju, just adding on some figures. The 1447 number must surely be dreamt by our press 🙂
Official figures by Overseas Indian Affairs Minister, Mr.Vayalar Ravi, in Rajya Sabha:
Number of incidents of attack on Indians in Australia over the recent years:
Year 2006: 4
Year 2007: 1
Year 2008: 17
Year 2009: 105
No: of Indian students in Australia: 97000
Since the mining industry is down in Australia many natives are coming to the cities and this has resulted in the proliferation of crimes. Indian students live in unsafe, backward areas of these cities and they naturally become targets. Its a matter of cracking down the social problem of crime and not running after some wild horse called racism, what you think? 🙂
You trust an Indian politician’s statement? That too Vaylar Ravi? lol.
Here, it comes straight from the Horse’s mouth. Now dont tell me that CNN-IBN has fabricated this news too.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/1447-indians-attacked-in-0809-aus-top-cop/94042-2.html
There is indeed a person called Simon Overland in the Victorian police and he happens to be their commissioner. See this link
http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=44
And here is the Police Commissioner’s statement straight from the Victoria Police’s website
http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/our-say/547-our-say-chief-commissioner-discusses-assaults-on-indian-students.html
I agree our media is high on hyperbole, but surely this number isnt.
This is just reported numbers. A lot of people affected just keep quiet as most are here on borrowed money and dont want their parents/loved ones back home to be alarmed.
If people are getting attacked in Sydney or for that matter Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and still the Aus police wants to say that its because the people were attacked in shady and violent places, then still shame on the Aussie police for not being able to crack down on violence.
After you see the way the Aussie cricket team responds everytime the opponents hit back, am not surprised at the Aus govt/police’s statements trying to hide behind some fig leaf of innocence.
I shudder to think the amount of crap these same fellows would raise if a single Aussie was assaulted in some forest in a remote part of India.
I hope this rests the case.
And ya the 1447 attacks on people of Indian origin is just for the state of Victoria. As for the whole of Aus, you do the math or google for yourself.
I’ve been living in Australia for 5 years. I went to uni where I was the only Indian in my course (and no, I didn’t do some godforsaken course just to get my residency). I have been the only Indian amongst Aussies in my workplaces since my uni days and as a professional of the past 2 years. And I can confidently say, Aussies are not racist like the Indian media is intent on portraying. I am not condoning the attacks but I’m certain that majority of the crimes at least initially were not racist but the Indian media’s response has most likely irked the few racists to come out in full force.
Most Indian students live in suburbs where rent is cheaper. Since this is the case, these suburbs also happen to be unsafe. Then, Indian students work odd hours and come home late in the night. In such cases, you are a sitting duck for getting mugged or robbed. I have another theory…almost all the attacks against Indians have been Indian men. No women have been attacked. I think this is because as women in India we are generally vigilant because of being harrassed by men on public transport or being followed by men etc. So we take precautions. And I think, instinctively, when we women go anywhere, we take the same precautions and are vigilant. However, Indian men tend to not worry about any of this within India and so, when they are in a foreign country, they think there’s nothing to worry about either and have the ‘indestructible’ thinking resulting in them say walking through a park late at night or sleeping on the bus-stop at night…and of course, the end result is unfortunate.
The Indian media has handled things very poorly. They have not spoken to the Indians here in Australia that love the country and definitely find it a lot safer than Bombay or Delhi (me included) Instead, they choose fear-mongering and sensationalism and painting all Aussies as racist. How do you think the Aussies react to this? The majority of whom are not racist.
And seriously, how many Indians are killed or assaulted within India??? I’m sure the stats are way higher than the crimes in all of Australia (and not just because of the population difference). Why isn’t the Indian media or government as concerned about all the zillion crimes that occur within India based on religion, caste, gender or class??? Why don’t they make a hue and cry about that?
It might be good if parents stop sending their kids to Australia. At least it saves the rest of us from hearing exaggerated stories about things here.
And finally, I’d like to say: Do not believe everything the media tells you. They tell you what you want to hear. They sensationalise things. 1447 Indians have been victims of crime. Did the media bother telling you the crime rate overall? No, because if they did, you would see that the proportion of Indians was in fact, not that great. So they tell you what you want…and it’s not always the truth. You need to listen to other versions…
1400 odd people of one race attacked in one state of Australia in just one year is a good thing to be defended? Even if there were 100,000 violent attacks and if Indians were just 1% of those attacked, you mean, its fine?
I thought Aus was a developed nation with effective policing and fair justice system. Then how come so much violence? Just because Indian students live in violent suburbs, they can be attacked? What the eff is the Aus police doing then? Twiddling their thumbs just because the victims are not white?
Will your loved ones be satisfied if the police reels out the same statistic after you become the next victim? I really hope not.
Does the violence in Mumbai/Delhi give a justification for the attacks on Indians in Australia? Even if its so, how many Aussies were attacked in Mumbai/Delhi that they are taking revenge for that in Aus?
Its easily the most absurd logic i have ever heard.
A good editorial that will rest the case
http://headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com/editorial-desk/editorial-35.html
It is as though some people under-valuing an Indian life as opposed to a western life.
The underlying fact is, they are being killed in Aus. in what ever colour the story comes out as – IT NEEDS reporting and serves as some sort of warning if nothing else, and then it is up to the concered to take a judgement call to go or not to go, at the same time putting pressure on both Indian/Aus. govts to deal with it.
exactly Ramana. I cant believe the ridiculousness of the defending party’s comments. Thousands of Indians are attacked in Mumbai / Delhi and that gives the Aussies the green light to whack the Indians in Aus.
If such statements come from some politician like Thackeray, i can understand…but educated people?
Just imagine what would have happened had a single Aussie been robbed in some godforsaken part of India. These fellows would have raised so much muck then. Would have issued travel advisories, ask the Indian ambassador to give an explanation, threaten to suspend ties etc.
Its good to see that the number of students from India going to Aus has reduced by 50% this year. I wish it goes down further and hits Aus where it hits the most. Their pockets.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying ‘defending’ which could irk them, but i hear a clear, “what’s so big a deal”. Talking about media now to me is side-tracking the issue. Instead both the govts. should GET ON with it and deal with the issue, protect the Indians living in those backward/unsafe areas AND TRY MAKE THEM FEEL SAFE.
Psych Babbler, it’s nice to hear that SOME people can actually think for themselves and not believe media hype. To Ljiu Philip, did you know that in the state of Victoria over 2007/2008, there were 36,765 victims of assaults and robberies? Did you also know that 24,260 of these people were Caucasian or other and 1,447 were people Indian?
You need to look at statistical facts and talk to people who actually LIVE in Australia. The univeristy I go to has HUNDREDS and hundreds of Indians, Asians, Arabs and other races in attendance – I have such a mixed range of friends and only ONE of them has ever experienced a racist comment. On the other hand, when I visited India, I was victimised hugely for having blonde hair. And I had to laugh at the comment “imagine if one Aussie got robbed in India”… um, I DID!! My wallet was stolen in Mumbai. I was leered at, mocked and one Indian woman called me a prostitute. I ignored it and got over the fact that my wallet was stolen, but still – don’t be so ignorant, Ljiu Philip.
I have so many Indian friends who I love dearly and who know that this is all a bunch of shit – the media is hyping this up. Australians have to live with threats from Muslim terrorists who we have to live with – I think these are the only people Australians generally don’t like, because their intention is to do harm to our country and kill us off. But Indian uni students, or Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese etc etc etc – it’s all a load of shit.
Oh, and I should also mention that the people getting mugged/robbed/assaulted are all in stupid places at stupid times – anyone with half a brain would know not to walk on their own in ANY big city at night, alone. It’s just common sense.
AND also, every big city has to grapple with gangs of hooligans and bad people who are out to take advantage of soft targets, such as young people. It wouldn’t matter if they were Indian, Asian or some Caucasian race, they still look like targets to gangs of hoods if they are walking around at night on their own.