Australian Racistfucks are Insensitive and in Denial
StraightDrive
Insensitive and in denial
The fatal stabbing of 21-year-old Nitin Garg and the recovery of the burnt
body of a Punjabi youth have re-ignited the debate about the safety of
Indian students in Australia. Coming in the wake of a spate of attacks on
Indian students over the past year, they are certainly disturbing. In
addition to condemning the attacks and indirectly raising questions about
the effectiveness of the steps taken by the Australian authorities, the
Government of India has issued a restrain ed travel advisory asking Indian
students Down Under to take "basic precautions in being alert to their own
security." Regrettably, the official reaction in Australia, at the federal
as well as the state level, has been less than satisfactory - a reaction
wrapped around denial. Australian officials have busied themselves in
discounting the possibility that racism could be a significant cause for
Indian students being targeted. At a time when precious young lives have
been lost and emotions are running high, it is poor consolation and bad
diplomacy to be told that the number of attacks has been exaggerated or that
Indian students are soft targets because they live or work in rough
neighbourhoods. This kind of insensitivity was reflected in acting Foreign
Minister Simon Crean's remark that such incidents happen not only in
Melbourne but also in "Delhi and Mumbai."
It is possible that many of the attacks on Indian students in the Melbourne
area are opportunistic rather than racial. But virtually ruling out racial
motivation in advance of a proper police investigation of two brutal murders
against a distressing background of attacks suggests that the authorities
are making light of a serious problem. The Australian government needs to
address, at the highest political level, the growing feeling among Indian
students that their concerns about racial violence are not being addressed
sincerely. This is against the background of a rise over the last few years
in the number of attacks against the Indian community, as evidenced by the
Victoria police's own data. Not surprisingly, visa applications from Indian
students - who constitute the second largest foreign student contingent in
Australia, after Chinese students - have shown a 46 per cent decline. This
will certainly worry a nation where the higher education industry has
emerged as the third largest export, valued close to $14 billion. Australia
has built its reputation as an attractive educational destination by
offering a variety of courses, good value for money, and the promise of a
friendly environment. Its government needs to be firmly reminded that
efforts to tackle an unacceptable series of attacks on young Indians can be
undermined by a stance of defensiveness, denial, and insensitivity.