In spite of Australian government’s assurance that it would not tolerate any more violence, another Indian student was found unconscious and bleeding after being attacked in Australia on June 8, making him the 11th target in a wave of racial attacks. Shahnawaz Ali Raihan, Secretary Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) on June 8 condemned alleged “racist” attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, and urged the Australian authorities to take practical steps to stop such attacks forthwith and punish the attackers and ensure best possible treatment for Indian students who were severely beaten up in these assaults recently. The Government of India also must take measures for safety of Indian students studying in that country.
Shahnawas also said there is a need to investigate whether these attacks in which Indian students are robbed and stabbed, are racially motivated or there is any other factor responsible for it (e.g. “teenage violence”, economic factor). Melbourne’s poorer western suburbs like Sunshine and St. Albans have witnessed a rise in crime and teenage violence over the months since the financial recession hit Australia late last year.
It is clearly not right to term all Australians as “racist” as was done by some of the Indian students participating in the rally in Melbourne and by some sections of the Indian print and electronic media.
These Melbourne incidents are no different from the what students from Bihar and other north Indian states faced at the hands of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) as they were appearing for the All India Railway Recruitment Board Examination for the Western Region in Mumbai. Similar incidences also occurred in Assam in 2003 when Bihari candidates were targeted by Assamese youths as they were appearing for Railway Exams in Tinsukia, Assam.
Higher education sectors in Australia have been mostly taken over by the private sector which is mostly unregulated by the government. Indian students need to be well informed about Australian Universities before admission.