2009 attacks on Indian students in Australia

During 2009, the media of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, mostly in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, and India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

publicised reports of crimes and robberies against Indians

Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin

A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...

in Australia that were described as racially motivated crimes

Hate crime

In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...

. A subsequent Indian Government investigation concluded that 23 incidents involved "racial overtones". There were 120,913 Indian students enrolled to undertake an Australian qualification in 2009 and India was the second top-source country for Australia’s international education industry.

Rallies were organised in Melbourne and Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, and intense media coverage of the perceived hate crimes commenced in India, which were mostly critical of Australia and Victoria Police

Victoria Police

Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...

. The Australian government initially called for calm as it began an investigation into the crimes. In June 2009, the Victoria Police Chief Commissioner, Simon Overland

Simon Overland

Simon Overland APM is the former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police in Australia. He previously worked with the Australian Federal Police, and then with Victoria Police, focusing on Melbourne's gangland wars. On 2 March 2009 he was named by Premier John Brumby as Victoria Police Chief...

, stated that some of the crimes were racist in nature, and others were opportunistic.

Background

Indian students are the second largest group of international students studying at a tertiary level in Australia. From 2004 to 2009 the number of Indians studying in Australia rose from 30,000 to 97,000 with 45,000 of these living in Melbourne, 32,000 in Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

and the remainder shared between Sydney, Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

and Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

. Some students come from rural areas in India, with most coming to Australia to seek permanent residency. Eapen Verghese stated in an opinion piece that the cost of living in Australian cities has made it necessary for many of these students to live in cheaper and more distant suburbs, where there is an increased risk of encountering violent crime. Others have indicated that Indian students face discrimination and exploitation in housing and jobs.

In 2007-2008, international education contributed billion to the Australian economy, measured through all categories of export earnings, including tuition fees, living expenses and tourism associated with visits from relatives. Inder Panjwani, General Secretary of the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI) stated there was a possibility that a few Indian students who had been admitted to Australian universities might cancel their admissions [because they feared attacks].

2007-2008 crime statistics

There were 120,913 Indian students enrolled to undertake an Australian qualification in 2009. In the year 2007-2008, 1,447 Indians had been victims of crime including assaults and robberies in the state of Victoria in Australia. However, the statistics reportedly show that Indians were not over represented in assaults. In either case, the Victorian police refused to release the data for public scrutiny, the stated reason being that it was "problematic: as well as 'subjective and open to interpretation'".

April 2008 Indian taxi driver protest

On 29 April 2008, in Melbourne an estimated five hundred Indian taxi drivers protested at Flinders Street Station

Flinders Street Station

Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city...

with a sit-in protest following the death of a taxi driver. A similar protest was held on 19 May 2008 in Adelaide, where about fifty taxi drivers protested after an assault on an Indian taxi driver. The Victorian Government brought in mandatory safety shields later that year, but this was met with protests because of the costs.

May 2009 Indian student protests

After incidents in May 2009, over 4,000 Indian Students staged a protest opposite Federation Square

Federation Square

Federation Square is a civic centre and cultural precinct in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

in Melbourne on 31 May 2009, saying attacks on Indian students were motivated by racism and were not being sufficiently addressed by the Australian Government. One report said "Along with more police protection, the students also want a multicultural police section, and on-site accommodation for Indian students at all universities and colleges". 18 protesters were arrested.

On 31 May 2009, In Melbourne India's High Commissioner, Sujatha Singh, met with Victorian State Premier John Brumby

John Brumby

John Mansfield Brumby , is an Australian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became Premier after the resignation of Steve Bracks. He also served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He contested his first election...

to express her government's concerns over the violence.
On 1 June 2009, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...

phoned Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

to express his concerns.

On 1 June 2009, in New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

about a 100 people including members of the Indian far-right Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena , is a political party in India founded on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray. It is currently headed by Thackeray's son, Uddhav Thackeray...

and student protesters held a demonstration outside the Australian High Commission in New Delhi, where effigies of Kevin Rudd were burnt. Shiv Sena MP Manohar Joshi

Manohar Joshi

Manohar Gajanan Joshi, is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He is one of the prominent leaders of the Shiv Sena political party. He was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1995–1999.-Background and family:...

warned that Australians living or travelling in India could face revenge attacks if Indians living in Australia continued to be attacked. On the same day Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd expressed regret for the attacks and declared that the perpetrators would be brought to justice. He did not state whether he considers the attacks to be racially motivated.

The left-wing All India Students Federation

All India Students Federation

The All India Students Federation was the first student union in India level.It was founded by students] on 12 August 1936 with the banner Freedom Peace Progress, with the guidance of Nehru. At that time, it worked for the independence of India. The organisation now works for the betterment of...

conducted a candle march at the India Gate

India Gate

The India Gate is the national monument of India. Situated in the heart of New Delhi, India Gate was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It was built in 1931...

, and demanded "stringent action against those behind the brutal attacks on the innocent students".

In June 2009, Indian student organisations called on the Indian government to declare Australia an "unsafe destination for Indian students"., the National Students Union of India met the Minister of State of External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala...

and demanded that the Centre should prevail upon the Australian government to ensure that such incidents do not occur again and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad political party, said it would consider an Australian boycott over the bashings if authorities did not do more to protect Hindus in Australia.

On 7 to 10 June 2009, rallies in the Sydney CBD and at Harris Park

Harris Park, New South Wales

Harris Park is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Harris Park is located 23 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.Harris Park is the home of several...

, were attended by hundreds of Indians and supporters. The rally started at Sydney Town Hall

Sydney Town Hall

The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. It stands opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral...

and marched to Hyde Park

Hyde Park, Sydney

Hyde Park is a large park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern side of the Sydney central business district. It is the southernmost of a chain of parkland that extends north to the shore of Port Jackson . It is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the...

. Some attending the rally specifically mentioned Harris Park (a Sydney suburb where 20% of the population is Indian), as an area where Indians were frequently assaulted, and called on police to do more to make that suburb safe. The students said they were considered "soft targets". Some Indian protestors were reported to be carrying hockey sticks and baseball bats. According to police, the protest was sparked by an attack on Indians earlier in the evening allegedly by Lebanese men. In retaliation the protesters attacked three uninvolved Lebanese men, who sustained minor injuries. This was believed to be the first violent reaction by Indian students against attacks on them. A police dog squad was called in to control the crowd.

On 9 June 2009, Indian Prime Minister, addressing the Indian Parliament said that "he was 'appalled' by the senseless violence and crime, some of which are racist in nature,"

On 4 July 2009 Michael Danby

Michael Danby

Michael David Danby is an Australian politician and has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since October 1998, representing the Division of Melbourne Ports, Victoria...

heading a six-member Australian parliamentarian delegation to India said, “We are joining the Premier of Victoria in a march to express the views of the overwhelming majority of Australians condemning these attacks." but when the Harmony Day March Occurred On 12 July 2009 , the Federation of Indian Student Associations in Australia

Federation of Indian Student Associations in Australia

The Federation of Indian Student Associations in Australia was incorporated in 2002 by Gautam Gupta after he was the victim of a drunken assault leading to depression and his decision to start the federation...

was not given leave to address the crowd.

In September 2009, Victorian Premier John Brumby visited India at the end of September and tried to "repair Australia's reputation" as fewer Indian students are applying for Australian visas.

January 2010 murders and protests

The murders of 25-year-old fruit picker Ranjodh Singh on 29 December 2009 in Griffith, New South Wales

Griffith, New South Wales

Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...

and 21-year-old student Nitin Garg on 3 January 2010 in Melbourne resulted in a protest in New Delhi. Three Indian nationals were put on trial for the murder of Singh in April 2011, with police alleging that the murder related to a pay dispute. Garg was stabbed by a 15 year old boy during an attempted robbery in a city park.

On 5 January 2010, A cartoon depicting the Victoria Police as a Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...

member was published in the New Delhi Mail Today

Mail Today

Mail Today is a newspaper established in November 2007 , and published by the India Today Group in a joint venture with British newspaper Daily Mail . Associated Newspapers holds 26% stake which it bought at Rs. 18 Crore Currently there is one edition of the paper published from Delhi which...

This was condemned by Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard

Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...

who described it as “deeply offensive”.
In January 2010 the Indian Government issued a travel advisory for Indians in Melbourne, warning of the increasing crime rate "often accompanied by verbal abuse and fueled by drugs and alcohol". However, Simon Crean

Simon Crean

Simon Findlay Crean is an Australian politician, and the current Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government in the Australian Federal Government. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level,...

, the acting Foreign Minister, urged Indian leaders to "avoid fuelling hysteria" and stated that Melbourne was a safe place to visit.

On 26 January 2010, the Australian Prime Minister's nephew Van Thanh Rudd

Van Thanh Rudd

Van Thanh Rudd is a Vietnamese Australian artist, activist and the nephew of Australian former-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. His artworks have created controversies due to their left-wing political content...

and Sam King, both of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, dressed up as members of the Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan

, protesting against the allegedly racist violence against Indians during the Australian Open

Australian Open

The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

tennis tournament in Melbourne, with the signs "Racism - Made in Australia" on the front of their dresses. The protest took place in front of Melbourne Park

Melbourne Park

Melbourne Park is a sports venue in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1988, Melbourne Park has been home of the Australian Open in tennis, which is played annually in January...

and both reportedly fined for "inciting a riot".

On 24 February 2010, the Vindaloo against Violence protest saw 17,000 protesters at over 400 restaurants, workplaces, schools and universities "reached out to the Indian community, and all our immigrant communities, to let them know that they are not indifferent to violence and that they are welcome and entitled to feel safe here. showed the government and law enforcement that we feel seriously about this issue and want to understand why this violence is happening and what is being done to diffuse it. The official participation of Victoria Police and Premier Brumby in the day’s action illustrates that this message has been received."

November 2010 stabbing

Another student was stabbed in the stomach on 5 November 2010 in Melbourne. Police reported that they believed the attack to have been random, rather than racially motivated.

Media coverage

Indian community leaders in Australia said Indian media has blown the issue out of proportion, and that their coverage could overcast the real issues faced by students.

The Indian media's coverage has been likened to hysteria by the Australian media. Australia's Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, said "There's been a lot of concern inside India and there's been, I think, some fairly hysterical reporting of what's occurred." The Herald Sun's conservative right wing columnist, Andrew Bolt

Andrew Bolt

Andrew Bolt is an Australian newspaper columnist, radio commentator, blogger and television host. Bolt is a columnist and associate editor of the Melbourne-based Herald Sun. He has appeared on the Nine Network, Melbourne Talk Radio, ABC Television, Network Ten and local radio...

, described the events as a "circus

Circus

A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...

", whilst another said that Indian TV networks ignored the higher murder rate in India. The Victorian Premier

John Brumby

said the Indian media's coverage of the incidents was "unbalanced" and emphasised that two Indian nationals were charged with the murder of Jaspreet Singh. An editorial by Radio Australia

Radio Australia

Radio Australia is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation , Australia's public broadcaster.- History :...

on the crimes used the words "media circus

Media circus

Media circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event where the media coverage is perceived to be out of proportion to the event being covered, such as the number of reporters at the scene, the amount of news media published or broadcast, and the level of media hype...

" in its headline.

On 8 Feb 2010, the weekly Indian newsmagazine Outlook

Outlook (magazine)

Outlook is one of India's four top-selling English weekly newsmagazines. Like many other Indian magazines, it is reluctant to reveal its circulation, but the 2007 National Readership Survey suggested 1.5 million copies...

published a 10-page cover story on the attacks called "Why the Aussies Hate Us", in which Vinod Mehta

Vinod Mehta

Vinod Mehta is the editor-in-chief of Outlook India.Mehta was born in Rawalpindi, in Pakistan. His family fled to India when he was three. He attended La Martinere school in Lucknow and the university there. He has published three books, including a biography of Sanjay Gandhi. He took over as...

, the editor in chief

Editor in chief

An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...

wrote that the Indian Media were not overreacting in their coverage of the violence, and accused the Australian authorities of displaying a "smug and superior attitude". He expressed admiration for Australia but criticized the Australian responses.

Some in the Indian media have accused the Australian authorities of being denialist.

There were also concerns that reports of an Indian journalist being attacked in Australia, cited by several Indian newspapers as an example of the "ongoing attacks," did not mention that her assailant was Indian.

In an attempt to repair the relationship, some Indian journalists were invited to visit Australia.

In 2010, investigative reporter Andrew Marantz from Mother Jones

Mother Jones (magazine)

Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...

magazine, gained employment selling mobile phone

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

call plans with the Delhi Call Centre in order to investigate Indian perception of Australians following media reports of Indians facing racism in Australia. Marantz's training included a three week course on Australian culture and "how to act Australian". During the course topic "dissecting the Australian psych", employees were told that Australia was known as "the dumbest continent on Earth" where college was "literally" unknown. Australians were technologically backward with the average person using mobile phones no better than the Nokia 3110 classic

Nokia 3110 classic

The Nokia 3110 classic is a mobile phone handset, manufactured by Nokia in Hungary and released for sale in 2007. Although the phone bears the same model number as the 1997 Nokia 3110, it was not directly derived from this model.The Nokia 3110 classic is a "candybar" cameraphone which uses the...

, were racist and that the best time to call was Friday nights as all Australians "drink constantly" and would likely be "smashed". In an interview on U.S. radio, Marantz stated he was shocked at the extent of Indian stereotyping of Australians.

Allegations of racism

A report about attacks on Indians in Australia was submitted to the Indian Parliament by the Overseas Indian Ministry, early 2010. According to this report, of the 152 attacks that the Indian consulate was aware of, 23 had "racial overtones", i.e., were accompanied by racial abuse, or "anti-Indian remarks". The majority were found to be either thefts, or robberies, or results of verbal disputes.

Yadu Singh, a cardiologist who heads the Indian Student Welfare Committee set up by the Indian Consulate in Sydney, said there had been at least 20 beatings of Indian students in Sydney in the past month, but most went unreported out of fear. He estimated over 100 attacks on Indian students in the last 12 months. He described the phenomenon as "curry bashing", and that "They are not random at all, the people are targeting them. They know these students are easy targets." He labelled the Indian press' reporting of the incidents as "irresponsible". Dr Singh believed Australians were "outraged with the way Indian media" was smearing the country. He went on to say that other Indians he had spoken to said they are not suffering and that they are doing well in Australia. He also expressed fear that the Indian media reports might lead to backlash against other Indian Australians. Others have objected to labeling Australia as racist based on the actions of a few.

Sitaram Yechury

Sitaram Yechury

Sitaram Yechury is an Indian politician and one of the most prominent communist leaders in the country. He is a senior member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India and the party's Parliamentary group leader....

, a member of parliament representing the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...

, wrote that both sides of the debate have points. Economic crises and downfalls often cause rising fascism

Fascism

Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

and racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

against minorities, such as the rise of Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

, the Great American Depression

Great Depression in the United States

The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...

, as well as economic downturns in India itself resulting in racist-like violence between various ethnic groups and ultra-nationalist parties in the country. Yechury says that the racism

Racism

directed against Indians in Australia can be explained in this broader context.

Chief Executive of Primus Telecommunications Australia, Ravi Bhatia, said the Australian government has shown "excellent sensitivity" towards the issue by announcing a slew of measures like Harmony march, reforms in the state sentencing law and setting up of Task Force to deal with attacks on Indian students.

Nama Nageswara Rao, leader of the Telugu Desam Party

Telugu Desam Party

Telugu Desam Party or TDP is a regional political party in India's Andhra Pradesh state. It was founded by former Telugu film star N. T...

, visited Australia, and held a press conference on his return. He stated that he had interviewed many of the victims, and the attacks did not appear to be motivated by racism. He also noted that many of the perpetrators were immigrants from ethnic minorities, such as "Afghans, Lebanese and other nationals who settled in Australia". Sydney students interviewed by ABC's AM

AM (ABC Radio)

AM, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's flagship current-affairs radio program, is one of Australia's longest-running productions. Its tagline is Ensure you are informed.-History and timeslots:...

programme stated that their attackers were from a range of ethnic backgrounds, and while they said there was a "racial element" they also saw the attacks as opportunistic. The attackers have been described as being white

White people

White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

, African

African people

African people refers to natives, inhabitants, or citizen of Africa and to people of African descent.-Etymology:Many etymological hypotheses that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":...

, Asian

Asian people

Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...

, Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

ern, Aboriginal

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

, and Pacific Islander

Pacific Islander

Pacific Islander , is a geographic term to describe the indigenous inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania: Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, these three regions, together with their islands consist of:Polynesia:...

.

Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt

Andrew Bolt

criticised the automatic labelling of Australia as a racist country as unfair, noting comments from foreign victims of crime that their attackers were foreigners themselves. On 28 January 2010 two Indian nationals were arrested for the murder of Ranjodh Singh on 29 December 2009. People from a range of different ethnic backgrounds perpetrated these assaults and investigations revealed that at least two of the later attacks were perpetrated by Indians.

In October 2010 a number of Victorian police officers were dismissed or otherwise disciplined after sending around emails with a video of a Indian train passenger being electrocuted with distasteful commentary referring to the Indian student affair.

Statistics controversy

An Australian study into the statistics of these attacks concludes that "In the light of poor criminological evidence and a plethora of evocative images, the global media has propagated and fostered claims about crimes and racism related to that are well outside the evidence.".

A report was submitted to the Indian Parliament by the Overseas Indian Ministry, early 2010. According to this report, of the 152 attacks that the Indian consulate was aware of, 23 had "racial overtones", i.e., were accompanied by racial abuse, or "anti-Indian remarks". The majority were found to be either thefts, or robberies, or results of verbal disputes.

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research is a statistical and research agency within the New South Wales Attorney General's Department, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1969.The director of the bureau is Dr...

states there has been no recorded increase in assault crimes in Harris Park in the past two years. A member of the NSW upper house

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

, Gordon Moyes

Gordon Moyes

Gordon Keith Mackenzie Moyes AC is an Australian Christian evangelist, broadcaster and former politician.-Early life and career:...

, cited changing victim demographics for the suburb, "What has happened over the last few years is that a number of Indian students, attracted by fairly cheap accommodation, have come into the area, the target - always the soft targets - moved from elderly people walking on the street to Indian students with laptops.

New South Wales Police have stated that Indians are not over represented in Australian crime statistics.

This view was supported by Sydney-based United India Association president Dr Prabhat Sinha, who took the view that the attacks were not necessarily racially motivated. He said: "They become soft targets by groups of four to six drug users, for example, who just want cash."

The Victorian State Premier, John Brumby, has stated that internal police statistics show that Indians are not over represented in assaults. However, according to the Police Commissioner, Simon Overland, people belonging to a broad statistical category of "South Asian appearance" (which includes Indians) are over represented in robberies. In either case, the Victorian police refuse to release these statistics to public scrutiny, the stated reason being that they are "problematic: as well as 'subjective and open to interpretation'".

Newspaper columnist Greg Sheridan

Greg Sheridan

Greg Sheridan is the foreign editor of The Australian and a right-wing commentator on foreign affairs.Writing on and from the Asian region since the 1980s, Sheridan is an expert on Asian politics, and has written four books on the topic, plus a book on Australia-U.S...

said that Victorian Premier John Brumby was in "indolent denialism" regarding these incidents by saying that "Assaults on Indian students are under-represented as a population share." According to Sheridan, the Victorian Police had initially denied gathering statistics on crime by ethnicity, then reversed that and said they did collate such statistics, but said that they were unreliable. Sheridan was concerned that there was also systematic under-reporting of all crime in Victoria as claimed in the Victorian Ombudsman report "Crime Statistics and Police Numbers".

Educational, policing and safety issues

Ruchir Punjabi, an Indian International student in Australia, claimed early in the debate about the cause of the events in the Sydney Morning Herald that labeling the crimes as racism

Racism

was distracting from critical issues in the education sector that the Government needed to give due attention to.

An editorial in the Geelong Advertiser
Geelong Advertiser
The Geelong Advertiser is a daily newspaper servicing Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Bellarine Peninsula and surrounding areas. The Geelong Advertiser is the oldest newspaper title in Victoria and the second oldest in Australia, and was first published on 21 November 1840. The newspaper is...

suggested that education institutions should take more consideration of safeguarding student safety, and other factors including inadequate policing numbers and liquor licensing should be addressed.

The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs said it would conduct a national quality crackdown on education and training providers, in particular smaller education providers that have been the target of student complaints.

South Australia is the only state that has an agency responsible for international student safety. Education Adelaide, jointly funded by the state government

State government

A state government is the government of a subnational entity in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or be subject to the direct control of the federal government...

and Adelaide City council

City of Adelaide

The City of Adelaide is a local government area in the metropolitan area of Adelaide, South Australia. It covers the original Adelaide city centre settlement, , North Adelaide, and the Adelaide Park Lands which surround North Adelaide and the city centre.Established in 1840, the organisation now...

, provides a function in the Adelaide Town Hall

Adelaide Town Hall

Adelaide Town Hall is a landmark building on King William Street in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.-Description and history:Adelaide Town Hall was designed by Edmund Wright and Edward Woods, with construction commencing in 1863 and completed in 1866...

hosted by the Lord Mayor

Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...

to welcome new arrivals, organises social events for international students, provides them with a written guide on personal safety and safe shopping, campaigns for affordable accommodation in the city centre and provides a farewell party in Government House

Government House, Adelaide

Government House, located in Adelaide on the corner of North Terrace and King William Road, is the official residence of the Governor of South Australia.-History:The original 'Government Hut' was a thatched hut constructed by the seamen of the HMS Buffalo...

hosted by the Governor at the end of their stay. Following the recent media attention regarding attacks on Indian students, the agency accepted testimonials on the safety of living in Adelaide from international students, including one from the 22 year old Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

who had been attacked in Rundle Mall on 11 June.

The People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

has also expressed concern over student safety in Australia. According to official figures, more than 130,000 Chinese students are currently studying in Australia.

New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

has responded to these attacks and subsequent incidents. The education sector in New Zealand has moved to distance itself from attacks on Indian students, saying they were "totally different societies". The Chief Executive of the New Zealand Education Trust, Robert Stevens, has stressed to prospective students from India that New Zealand "is a different country from Australia - in the nicest possible way", and is striving to market New Zealand to Indians in this manner. Education authorities in New Zealand are hoping recent attacks on Indian students in Australia will make New Zealand a more attractive option.

Need for a mechanism to prevent attacks on Indians abroad

Domestically, the Indian government declared that it would formulate a policy to deal with racial discrimination against Indians abroad.

As part of the initiative to create an institutionalised mechanism to prevent racist attacks on Indians abroad, Vayalar Ravi

Vayalar Ravi

Vayalar Ravi is a prominent Indian politician, currently the Union Cabinet Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Minister of Civil Aviation. He is a member of the Rajya Sabha.-Political Life:...

, the head of the overseas Indian affairs ministry, has been tasked to protect the Indians in Australia. Ravi has called for a report on these incidents from the Indian High Commission in Australia.

Aftermath

There was a 46% drop in Indians applying for student visas for Australia from July to 31 Oct 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, and a total drop of 26% in student visa applications to Australia from all countries (including India). A study (completed before the deaths of Nitin Garg and Ranjodh Singh) forecast a 20% drop in Indian students expected to study in Australia in 2010, compared to 2009, partly due to a reduction in the number of visas allowed to be granted, stiffening of the regulations associated with them, the strength of the Australian dollar, and a clampdown on unscrupulous migration agents and colleges. After the attacks of 2009 and the deaths in Jan 2010, its expected to fall even further than the 20% drop.

In response, Victorian police were given new powers to conduct stop-and-search operations without the need for warrants. They conducted their first stop-and-search operation for three hours at Footscray railway station which has a history of knife crime. They found seven people carrying twelve weapons.

The former head of its elite Special Air Service (SAS) regiment and current National Security Adviser, Duncan Lewis

Duncan Lewis

Duncan Edward Lewis AO, DSC, CSC , is a retired Australian Army officer and former Commander Special Forces. He is currently the Australian Secretary of Defence.-Military career:...

, was charged with leading a taskforce to examine the attacks on Indian students. Lewis chaired the task force’s first meeting and coordinated Australia’s response to the assaults. The Victorian government is considering enacting hate crime

Hate crime

legislation that would consider prejudicial motivation as a factor in sentencing.

Premier of Victoria Ted Baillieu

Ted Baillieu

Edward Norman "Ted" Baillieu MLA is an Australian politician. He is currently the Premier of Victoria and the member for the Legislative Assembly seat of Hawthorn...

, before his election, said in November 2009, that he would place two armed guards on every one of Melbourne

Melbourne

's metropolitan train stations every night, from 6pm until the time the last train left, on the occasion that he won the 2010 state election

Victorian state election, 2010

The 2010 Victorian state election was held on 27 November. The incumbent centre-left Australian Labor Party government, led by John Brumby, was defeated by the centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition, led by Ted Baillieu....

Bollywood reaction

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

's largest labour union declared that its members would refuse to work in Australia until attacks on Indian students there are stopped. Dinesh Chaturvedi, the general secretary of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees Association, has declared that their associates have been instructed not to shoot films in Australia as "the situation is not normal over there".

In response to the issue, Bollywood

Bollywood

star Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...

turned down an honorary doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology

Queensland University of Technology

Queensland University of Technology is an Australian university with an applied emphasis in courses and research. Based in Brisbane, it has 40,000 students, including 6,000 international students, over 4,000 staff members, and an annual budget of more than A$750 million.QUT is marketed as "A...

. Fellow Indian actor, Aamir Khan

Aamir Khan

Aamir Hussain Khan is an Indian film actor, director and producer who has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema....

, has condemned the attacks, stating that, "[It is] most disturbing to hear about racist attacks on Indians living in Australia. Quite a shame. While this doesn't mean that all Australians are racists, the frequency and seriousness of such attacks, I think, calls for an extra ordinary reaction from the Australian authorities, and while we want action to be taken by authorities in Australia, equally we should remember all the various crimes against foreigners who visit India."

Students leaving

Overall, the number of foreign students coming to Australia over the period 2009-2011 declined significantly, owing to several factors. A steep rise in the value of the Australian dollar made Australia less attractive than its chief competitors in Britain and the United States, while a tightening of government regulation of the education and of visa requirements contributed to this decline, but some Indians also indicated concern over safety as an issue. In 2010, Federation of Indian Students in Australia (FISA) says that 30,000 Indian students have left Australia in the last year, and claims "race attacks is one of the major reasons behind the exodus. Other significant factors include that there are no jobs and students can't survive without that.
Denying permanent residency to many Indians despite fulfilment of conditions has also been a reason."

Safety of international students research project

In order to establish reliable statistics for the examination of the safety of international students, the Australian Institute of Criminology

Australian Institute of Criminology

The Australian Institute of Criminology is Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice. The Institute seeks to promote justice and reduce crime by undertaking and communicating evidence-based research to inform policy and practice.The functions of the AIC include...

is undertaking a research project on the safety of international students living in Australia. The project is intended to compare the rate of crime against international students with the rate of crime against the broader Australian population. The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is releasing data to Australian police jurisdictions and the Australian Institute of Criminology as part of a data-matching exercise which will enable identification of international students who have been victims of crime (Australian police jurisdictions do not collect statistics on victims' citizenship or visa status).

Crimes Against International Students Report by the Australian Institute of Criminology

In 2011, the Australian Institute of Criminology

Australian Institute of Criminology

released a study entitled Crimes Against International Students:2005-2009.This found that over the period 2005-2009, international students were less likely to be assaulted than the average person in Australia. Indian students experienced an average assault rate in some jurisdictions, but overall they experienced lower assault rates than the Australian average.

External links

Racial Attacks Trouble Indian Students in Australia – TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
Indian Students Claim Epidemic of Racist Violence in Australia – Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
Statement from Victorian Chief Commissioner of Police, 2 June 2009
Australia: Attacks on Indian Students Raise Racism Cries

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Background

2007-2008 crime statistics

April 2008 Indian taxi driver protest

May 2009 Indian student protests

January 2010 murders and protests

November 2010 stabbing

Media coverage

Allegations of racism

Statistics controversy

Educational, policing and safety issues

Need for a mechanism to prevent attacks on Indians abroad

Aftermath

Bollywood reaction

Students leaving

Safety of international students research project

Crimes Against International Students Report by the Australian Institute of Criminology

See also

External links