Melbourne: Fearing a backlash, the Indian
community here have condemned the cartoon in a Delhi newspaper
that allegedly depicted a Victoria policeman as a member of
hate group Ku Klux Klan and appealed not to associate racism
with all crimes on the streets of Australia.
"It (the cartoon) crosses all norms. It is going to
seriously damage the fragile relationship. We appeal to Indian
government to do something to moderate the behaviour of some
section of Indian media," Ravi Bhatia, Chief of Primus
Telecom, said.
Community leaders felt it was not going to help anyone
and would harm the two sides, especially Indians living in
Australia.
"The matter should be left to police and investigating
agency to find out the reason of the attack and police and
government is putting all its efforts to do so," Bhatia said.
Melbourne witnessed most of the attacks on Indians,
including the killing of 21-year-old Nitin Garg last weekend.
Sydney-based cardiologist Yadu Sigh said it was not
appropriate to join the bandwagon of racism for the
cold-blooded murder without knowing facts and one should think
of the Indian community in Australia before drastic comments.
He asked Federation of Indian Students in Australia(FISA)
members to have a balanced view and refrain from bringing
racial angle without proper basis.
Meanwhile, an Indian doctor who was badly beaten by
thugs in Melbourne two years ago, has denied any `racial`
angle into it, saying they are "just bad people doing bad
things".
Former Australian Medical Association president Mukesh
Haikerwal said such attacks were not `racially motivated`,
according to `Herald Sun` report today.
"The Indian student issue is really one of people who
don`t have transport, working very late at night to hold down
jobs to do their study, and who are in the wrong place at the
wrong time," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
"Having said that, there has been some copy-catting. But
in general it`s not the case," Haikerwal who was in coma after
being attacked on head with a baseball bat in a Williamstown
park in October 2008, was quoted as saying by the paper.
He had two fractures in his head, two life-threatening
blood clots and had to learn how to speak again.
Haikerwal recently spoke privately to Premier John Brumby
about the violence on Melbourne`s streets, expressing concern
over recent attacks and offered advice to tackle the problem.
The doctor said he`d recently returned from India where
the violence against students was much discussed among locals.
"It`s very much on the top of people`s questions about
Australia generally and Melbourne in particular," he said.
"I have been at pains to point out that in the case of
myself, there were seven people done (attacked) the same day
and these were bad people doing bad things.
"We don`t want to besmirch the reputation of Australia
and Australians because of some bad people."
Attacks on Indians: Rao
Describing the recent attacks on
Indian students in Australia as "tragic", Foreign Secretary
Nirupama Rao has said the environment of fear and suspicion
prevailing in that nation is not good for bilateral relations.
The violent incidents are of grave concern to us and also
for parents who are mostly from the middle-class and send
their children there at great cost and difficulty, she said.
"These incidents have shaken the confidence of Indian
students and their parents about Australia," Rao said in an
interview to `Outlook` magazine.
"It is very very important to restore that confidence. A
climate of fear and suspicion is not good for the relationship
between the two countries," she said.
-PTI
