Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Australian High Commissioner to India Peter Verghese Wednesday tried to play down the violent attacks on Indians Down Under as being not necessarily racial in nature.
“We have never denied that racial attacks happen. However, most of the cases are an example of opportunistic urban crime. While some cases have some racial element in it,” Peter Varghese said at a press conference.
His statement comes at a time when there is continuous uproar over continuing attacks and anger over statements by some Oz leaders justifying racial attacks on Indians.
Denying that there is any lapse on the part of Australian law enforcement agencies in providing security to the Indians there, he said, “There has been no decrease in policing by the Victorian Police… We have given police wide powers to ensure safety of Indian students in Australia. These measures are designed to address the problem. To ensure full safety we will have to abolish crime in Australia. I don`t think any government can abolish crime totally.”
"No government could abolish crime. We have elaborate security arrangements. We will continue to pursue these measures and hopefully eliminate these incidents,” Verghese added.
He also denied that Australian Foreign Minister Simon Crean has used the word “hysteria” while reacting to the attacks on Indian students in the country.
Yesterday, Crean has urged India not to fuel hysteria over the killing of a student in Melbourne.
The envoy, however, stressed that his country was taking all necessary measures to ensure security of international students.
"I am expecting a decline in the number of Indian students. The perception of (lack of) safety may deter students from coming to Australia," the envoy told reporters here.
"We will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of international students," he said.
There were an estimated 115,000 Indian students in Australia in 2009, the highest number after the Chinese. Indian government has infact issued an advisory cautioning Indian students wanting to pursue further education Down Under.
Although Canberra strongly condemned the incident but also chose to downplay the advisory saying the country was safe and such crimes take place in all big cities.
It reflects the Indian government`s judgment, the Australian envoy said.
The envoy’s statement came after Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard insisted that such attacks occur in big cities around the world inviting widespread condemnation in India.
