INDIAN SET ABLAZE IN AUSTRALIA
January 9th, 2010 by | Posted in News Comments Off on INDIAN SET ABLAZE IN AUSTRALIA
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A 29-year-old man of Indian origin was set ablaze by a group of four attackers here on Saturday, a week after a student from the country was stabbed to death amid a slew of assaults on the community in Australia. The man, who suffered 15 per cent burns including on his arms, chest and face, was admitted to ‘The Alfred’ hospital after he was attacked in Melbourne’s Essendon area.
As per local news reports one Jaspreet Singh and his wife left a dinner party in Essendon, and drove to their nearby home in Grice Crescent. He dropped his wife at home and had gone to park his car when he was attacked. Police said that as he was getting out of the car, four men attacked him and poured an unknown fluid on him. One of the men then ignited the fluid with a lighter before all the attackers fled. The victim, who is now in a stable condition in the hospital, ran from the car while peeling off his clothes, ‘The Age’ reported.
This is the third attack on an Indian in Australia within the span of ten days and still the Australian Police say that these are not ‘racial attacks’ in nature?
Commenting on the recent attack on Indian in Australia, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that it was following the matter vigorously with Australian authorities. The attack comes a week after the stabbing death of 21-year-old Indian graduate Nitin Garg in a Yarraville park while he was on his way to his part-time job in a restaurant.
A few days later the burnt body of Ranjodh Singh was spotted by a paser by near Wilga Road in Willbriggie in the neighbouring state of New South Wales on December 29. The incident was reported earlier this week.
Police investigating the alleged attack on a 29-year-old man in Essendon do not believe at this stage that this incident is racially motivated.
At a press conference earlier in Essendon, Crime Department Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Neil Smyth said, “We are investigating all possibilities but early indication show it was not racially motivated.” The ABC reported that the man is of Indian origin. Police appealed for public assistance to locate the victim’s clothes, which he shed as he fled the scene.
It is a matter of concern that, in spite of serious and concerted efforts by the Australian Government to deal with this issue to address India’s concerns, these attacks are continuing, and have even resulted in fatalities.
The Government of India have been seriously concerned at the series of attacks on Indian students, as well as members of the Indian community, in Australia over the past few years, especially at the increasing incidents of assaults since May 2009. The most recent incidents resulting in the tragic deaths of Indian citizens only underline the need for addressing these concerns at the earliest.
India’s High Commissioner in Australia has conveyed to the Australian Government the importance of addressing the concerns raised by these attacks, and the need for prompt and speedy action in finding and charging the perpetrators and ascertaining the reasons behind the attacks.
The Government of India hopes that the series of measures already promised by the Australian authorities as to better policing and better surveillance in crime-prone areas are increased and kept in place, until such time as the attacks cease, and the Indian community in Australia is reassured about its safety and security.
The High Commission of India in Canberra and the Consulate General in Melbourne and Sydney are in regular touch with the concerned authorities both at the Federal and State levels in Australia.
Tags: Attacks on Indians in Australia, Indian set ablaze, Melbourne, Racial Attacks
And still some of the graduates in India are willing to study in OZ because it’s cheaper. I wonder what’s really happening out there because there is always an exception 🙂
Hahahahahah wait a minute!
Is this the incident that the ‘victim’ set himself/his car on fire to scam an insurance payout? Did I mention he also publically admitted to this later on?
I love how you fire the flames of racial tension because an Indian couldn’t possibly be a LIAR.
Your reporting is a joke.
@Lol – perhaps your defence is a joke too! .. If i need to say sorry once, (which I’m not shy in saying that i am, on this issue), perhaps the austrailians should say sorry a thousand times where Indians have been targeted and proved likewise.
Australians should say sorry? 99.99% of the population have had no involvment in any racist attacks on Indians. Why should they apologise for the actions of a few thugs that the majority of the population would rather see in jail anyway?
What you do not understand is that Indians are not targetted any more than any one else in Australia. The Indian media may have lead you to believe this, however crime statistics show this is not the case. Obviously you only hear about Indian victims rather than all victims of crime in Australia.
Yes, Australia does have a problem with street violence IN GENERAL. However that problem is no worse than street violence in India.
Yes, there are some racist people in Australia. Just as there are some racist people in India.
I have been the victim of street violence in Australia a couple times now. This did not have anything to do with my race. Some thugs just want to fight everyone and cause as much damage as possible irrespective to what race the victim is. Generally such people are most active late at night and are either drunk or on drugs.
This is generally the reason I do not use public transport or walk the streets late at night, as I do not wish to encounter these types of people. However as alot of Indian nationals work night shifts and use late night public transport they encounter these types of people more often than someone who works a day shift.
This is a problem with violence in general rather than blanket racism. I am actually glad the issue of street violence has been forced to the governments attention. Hiwever I wish the issue would stop focusing on racial violence against Indians, and focus on street violence against people of all races.
It really does not help labelling Australia as a racist country because you increasingly isolate the majority of the population who are not racist, yet are being labelled as such.
How many attacks against Indians have occured in the U.S in the same time period? Probably something like over 200 times more than Australia right? Do you boil that down to racism or just the United States’ problem with crime and gun violence in particular?