New Delhi: In a letter to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, BJP President Rajnath Singh on Thursday demanded
safety of Indians students in Australia and inclusion of
labour and welfare rights in the proposed Free Trade Agreement
be discussed with the visiting Australian Premier.
"I urge the government to raise the issue of the security
and safety of Indian students during its meetings with the
Australian Prime Minister (Kevin Rudd) and ask him to
introduce safeguards to curb rampant discrimination and
violence against the people of Indian origin," Rajnath Singh
wrote in his letter.
He has also expressed concern at the manner in which the
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was "progressing" with Australia.
"The BJP believes that we must include welfare and labour
rights as an integral part of the Free Trade Agreement with
Australia and create a level playing field for Indian business
and the industrial sector," he said.
The BJP President had received a delegation of Federation
of Indian Students of Australia recently which had informed
him that "1,447 cases have been registered against Indians by
State of Victoria (Australia) alone in the past one year". In
most of these cases, Indians were reportedly implicated by the
police.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 12, 2009, 22:03