Melbourne: With incidents of attacks on
Indians here on the rise, many community members feel the root
cause of such assaults is not race but the students` financial
conditions that force them to be out at night for odd jobs to
meet high cost of living in Australia.
Many Indians in Australia feel students from India
should be "alert" and "careful" if they travelling at odd
hours in the night.
"It is not the race that is the problem but it is
their hard financial conditions," Ravi Bhatia, Primus CEO and
a leading community member, said reacting to the latest attack
in which a 22-year old Sikh was attacked while he was asleep
at a bus stop.
"What makes you sleep at that time at a bus stop. Are
you not inviting problems by doing so?" he asked.
"Students as a migrants have some obligations also and
they should take basic safety measures," he said.
Srinivas Vasan, Federation of Indian Association of
Victoria (FIAV), said Australia is the most multicultural
society and has allowed people from all over the world to live
here peacefully.
Over 30 Indian students were attacked in various
Australian cities from June to September.
Bureau Report
