AUSTRALIAN PM VISITS INDIA

November 15th, 2009 by Ravi Matah | Posted in News   Comments Off on AUSTRALIAN PM VISITS INDIA
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RACIAL ATTACKS ON INDIAN STUDENTS DISCUSSED

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is on a visit to India, on Thursday discussed with Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister the racial attacks on Indian nationals in his country.

Rudd assured the Prime Minister that his government was committed to stopping the attacks on Indian nationals in his country but authorities could not totally rule out such incidents in future.

As reported by the press, Rudd said, “As Australian PM, I am deeply disturbed and disgusted at the violence against any foreign students studying in Australia and who are in our country as our guests. Such attacks will not be tolerated. They will be dealt with full force of Australia’s criminal justice system.”

“But I can’t say to you… since we are dealing with such large numbers… half a million foreign students in Australia at any given time, that you can rule out the possibility of future incidents,” he added. Does this comment reflect upon the inefficiency of the Police?

Manmohan had conveyed to his counterpart India’s concern over safety and security of Indian students there.

In a televised interview on various TV news channels Rudd said that Australia is the best hub of education for International students. This sounds good. But Rudd is definitely aware of the following  incidents of racial attacks and still thinks Australia is a good place for study for International students : –

May 2009 – David, 21, was beaten unconscious in Melbourne.  Four men surrounded while another smashed a bottle on his head before continuing to kick and punch him.

May 2009 – Sourabh Sharma was assaulted and robbed by a gang on a train while travelling to his home in Melbourne’s western suburbs. Sharma said his attackers asked: “Why did you come here?”

May 2009 – Shravan Kumar, a 25-year-old student  was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver in while he was partying with three other Indian students.

May 2009 – Baljinder Singh, 25, was stabbed in the abdomen near Carnegie railway station in Melbourne. One of his two attackers laughed during the assault.

June 2009 –  Nardeep Singh,  21, was slashed across the chest with a box-cutter knife in Frankston. The incident occurred a day after a Sikh temple in Shepparton was vandalised.

June 2009 – A 23-year-old student, Kamal Jit, was beaten unconscious while walking home from the St. Albans train station and in the suburb of Springvale, an Indian student’s car was torched.

And half a dozen more such incidents have been reported.

More than 300 students rallied against the attacks on June 7 in Harris Park in Sydney where some of the attacks have occurred.

The Ministry of External Affairs press notification released Rudd’s statement – “The attacks on foreign students studying in Australia ‘as our guests’ would not be tolerated, Rudd asserted, adding they would be dealt with by the full force of the Australian law enforcement and criminal justice systems”.

Noting that Indian students had recently overtaken China to become the largest source of overseas students in Australia numbering close to 100,000, Rudd, however, pointed out that no government could guarantee that no acts of violence would occur.

AUSTRALIAN JAILED

A court in Melbourne has sentenced an Australian to over six years in jail for attacking an Indian taxi driver with knife, and hundreds of Indian cab drivers blocked the Melbourne streets last year in protest. Is it too little, too late?

Justice Elizabeth Curtain sentenced Parrish Chales to six-and-a-half years in jail, saying the stabbing was “random, unprovoked and frenzied” and the fact that the 45-year-old attacker had a hunting knife hidden in his pants showed a degree of “premeditation”.

The judge said the unprovoked and unexpected assault on 23-year-old Jalvinder Singh was terrifying and left Singh with ongoing mental and physical injuries that would change his life, media reports said on Friday.

Charles stabbed Singh five times from behind with a hunting knife and the victim crawled bleeding from his cab and was found in the gutter hours later by a passing truck driver in April last year.Charles drove off in the cab but crashed it nearby. The crime shocked the city and the taxi drivers  blocked Flinders and Swanston streets in central Melbourne for 22 hours.

Victorian Government had to then agree to safety screens in cabs for drivers who wanted them, and pre-payment of fares to become mandatory at night.

The Courts judgement in sending Parrish Chales to six years in jail might serve as a deterrent to other people and they might desist from such actiivities in future.

About 100,000 Indian students live in Australia. More than 30,000 students go every year to Australia to study. After many racial attacks, some action now appears to have been taken by Australia.

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