Racial Attacks In Australia; Why Are Indians Soft Targets

Racial attacks in Australia; why Indians only |

Om Prakash Yadav

of us would like to ponder about and like to find consolable if not acceptable answers.

RACIST ATTACKS; WHY INDIANS ONLY?

REASONS OF SUCH ATTACKS-It is too a simplistic proposition to categorically brand them as acts of criminal or opportunistic activities as uttered by Australian High Commissioner and DCP Melbourne, John McCarthy, HC has however not denied that some racist elements might have been involved in what he called Shameful criminal acts.

The recent attacks on Indian students studying in Australia have attracted global attention. This rabid cultural and racial menace has attracted worldwide condemnation. One Sravan Kumar Theerthala was hit with Petrol bottles by some unidentified teens while he was reading book in his house at Melbourne. Balbjinder Singh another student from India studying in Melbourne was robbed and stabbed in his abdomen. Both are struggling for life in hospitals. Sravan’s condition is reported to be very critical, he is still in coma. In a separate incident, four students were attacked and burgled by racist elements in Australia. One Suketu Modi, a businessman from Surat was attacked in train by a group of students when he had gone there for IT business. According to student’s organisations, these racist attacks have been taking place in Australia for quite some time; most of them went unreported. According to one report about 20 racial attacks on Indian have taken place in Sydney alone previous month.

If not the Global society, Indian civil society must quest reasons behind it; after all why Indians are being attacked everywhere? It seems that the existence of these vestigial racial elements even in cultural plural societies does have other hidden reasons apart from ostensible causes. Chagrin does not prevail in Australia; and even Australian media lamented only after vociferous diplomatic and societal protests at home. •

Australia interestingly is not the sole country where rabid faces of racism have been raising heads. Such dastardly incidents have been taking place in countries like UK, Germany, France and some African and Gulf countries also. This incident has raised very perturbing question which every one 2

ECONOMIC- India has written stories of astounding success in economic fields; thanks to flooded brilliant young brains in fields of science and technology, management and other frontier areas. Our IITs, IIMs, and plethora of Business and other schools have produced best brains in the world. The campus selections by MNCs and TNCs over a couple of decades have caused many concerns to the students of those countries which have destinations of our ‘smart Engglish speaking IT-BPO guys’ for obvious

reasons. If is felt by many of them that their job opportunities are being eaten up by Indians. Many guys working in MNCs and TNCs in countries like USA, UK, Australia, Germany and a host of other such developed countries have faced similar acts of discrimination. Many of such incidents go unreported for simple reason; as to the victims have to run from pillar to post once FIR is registered. Student community particularly do not like to be involved in legal wrangles, because they think that they have come here not to fight legal battle but to complete their studies and make careers. They are also tormented by the lackesaidial, callous and sometimes, nocent attitude of Police. For instance in Australia, Police did not act till the matter was blown out of their capacity to hold. According to Forbes; about 13 billion USD is spent by Indian students abroad annually. Australia alone has a 15.5 billion dollar business with foreign students and as many as 1 lakh Indian students study in Australian at present. According to one estimate about 8.3 lakh Indian students are studying in countries like USA, UK, USSR, France, Australia etc. Needless to say that those going abroad for higher studies belong to affluent class of society. The number of HNI in India has swelled for some years. Like many other

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education has created a dangerous in-equilibrium. The affluence of these students studying abroad or working guys who earns handsome salaries in MNCs betrays in their life styles and attracts opportunistic activities by teens who have been already suffering from a sense of inferiority complexes. These complexes find expression in such opportunistic acts blended with racism. SOCIOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONALWith the passage of time, the colonies have gained independence from colonial powers. The European Countries are finding their erstwhile colonies rubbing shoulders in gatherings at International forums. The sense of hatred which had these centuries been harbouring unconsciously precipitates in their mind and find expression in such abhorrable acts of racial attacks. Australians in particular have strong racial instinct which has found expression in Australian cricket teams. Ricky Ponting did not spare Sarad Pawar, the President of BCCI during a prize distribution event. History has tought us to be proud of our past. Their past had been excellent but future is full of intense competition which extra-individualistism. In the present global financial regime, every one, may it be individual or Nation has to find a place for itself not on

the basis of its past but on the basis of its present. The economic hegemony of USA is all set to nosedive. The American Tsardom in financial market is likely to over. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has bashed USA, the pain of which is still emanating. Asian giant China has purchased 1.3 trillion USD worth US treasury bills, a sense of chagrin prevails in USA, what a travesty; once lender has become borrower. The Chinese export juggernaut into USA has changed the entire economic power structure. Protectionist measures taken by USA and host of developed nations have these social and psychological dimensions also. The sense of frustration is obvious in younger minds because their economic future is not as secure as it had been decades ago. There is no denying the fact that economic development in India has changed our life styles and cultural traits to a great extent, still then our social, family, and religious ethos which have deep roots, have not eroded to the extent of disappearance. Religious tolerance and non-violence are still way of our lives. When our boys go abroad we preach them to be adherent to these ethos. In spite of spurt in attacks, Students in Australia have decided to take out a Peace March rather than taking to streets. Normally

such incidents meet violent backlashes. But the kind of restraint which has been shown by Indians in Australia and abroad is suggestive of the fact that ethos of NonViolence and Satyagraha are still alive in our soul and these preaching of Mahatma Gandhi are inculcated in our way of life. These characteristics of ours have been taken by many a Nations as timidity and cowardice. After all what explains when two teen attacked four students and went un-retaliated, physically they could have not only been overpowered but thrashed also. Progress and affluence of students studying abroad do manifest in their lifestyles which tempt these racist elements to attack, it serves twin purposes; on the one hand they snatch some valuable items from students and on the other it satiates their hidden desire of inferiority complex. •

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ROLE OF EMBASSIES- the role of embassies in this regard have particularly been callous. According to reports available in public domain, hundreds of such attacks have taken place on Indian students in different parts of world. When the students approach to authorities in embassies, they are treated with callous and cool attitude. This has emboldened the morale of

such lumpen elements who are indulged in acts of such vandalism and at the same time, it leaves students at the mercy of their fate. In this case also, Indian Embassy could take up the issue only after matter was reported in Indian media and PM and MEA Minister talked to Kelvin Rudd and Julia Gillard in strongest possible diplomatic over tune and conveyed their frowning over the issue. This approach of our diplomatic babus needs to be changed. To sum up, we can say that these incidents are rooted in sociological, economic, historical and ethical soil of developed cultural plural societies. The lasting and amicable solution therefore can only be found in the roots and not in stems.

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