While different theories are being examined regarding the spurt in attacks against foreign students, Australia plans to impose tougher sentences for hate crimes. The federal and state governments have announced several steps to curb violence against Indian and other foreign students.
(Yesterday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd himself assured full security to Indian students and reassured the Indian government that Australia is not a racist country…See my earlier posts here…)
Meanwhile The Age of Australia reports that hours after the Victorian and Federal Governments announced new measures aimed at reassuring the Indian community, news emerged of a yet another attack — this time on a 21-year-old man in Dandenong.
“The victim, a nursing student at Chisholm TAFE, was slashed with a Stanley knife after a group of five males stopped him and demanded money and cigarettes about 1.30pm yesterday, Victoria Police said.
“The latest incident followed an attack on a Sikh temple at Shepparton at the weekend, and an anti-racism demonstration by thousands of Indian students in central Melbourne that ended in clashes with police early on Monday.” (See here…)
The Age also carries a story about critically injured student Shravan Kumar, 25, from Hyderabad, whose distraught parents are too poor to visit him in Melbourne. Photo above shows Shravan Kumar’s cousin Lakshmi Narasimha, and uncle Srinivasu Therthala at Royal Melbourne Hospital. More here…
In Canberra, the National Security Adviser, Mr Duncan Lewis, today chaired the first meeting of a new Taskforce to coordinate the Australian Government’s response to such crime in different cities.
The Deputy Prime Minister has already announced that international student representatives would be invited to a Roundtable to discuss issues affecting their study experience including accommodation, safety and welfare.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the Victorian Government (Melbourne is its capital) has today committed to amending “Sentencing Guidelines” to make hate crimes more cognizable.
“For the covenience of local students, Victoria Police has established a community reference group to facilitate communication on safety issues with the Indian community in Victoria.
The community reference group has allotted phone number 1800 to provide support, information and advice to Indian students who are victims of crime. “The hotline is staffed by volunteers who are fluent in English and Hindi and the volunteers have received training from Victoria Police.”
Premier of Victoria, Mr John Brumby said today: “I can assure the victims of these crimes and their families, that we do everything in our power to track down the perpetrators of these cowardly acts and bring them to justice.
“Melbourne will hold a Harmony Walk on the afternoon of Sunday 12 July to celebrate and reaffirm our state’s tolerance, diversity and multiculturalism. Victorians come from more than 230 nations, speak 180 languages, and follow more than 116 religions … and we want to see everyone come together for the inaugural Harmony Walk.”
More than 95,000 Indian students joined Australian institutions in 2008, thereby contributing billions to the economy. It has become Victoria’s biggest export earner. In Melbourne itself, there are more than 50,000 Indian students.
According to Rahul Mishra (of the Centre for School of International Studies, the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, and fellow, Australia-India Council 2007-8), in all the incidents of ‘curry bashing’ (as attacks on Indians are popularly called), part-time working students, salesmen and taxi drivers have been attacked, rather than skilled professionals. This kind of identity politics is symptomatic of economic insecurity among locals.
“Australia has long been a ‘safe destination with quality education’ for Indian students, an image increasingly tarnished by recent events. In the past three years hundreds of working students in Australia have been assaulted — a fact that is bound to influence prospective students.
“For more than year now, Indian students have been assaulted, robbed and abused. Such incidents have risen at an alarming rate in past one month. According to the police, around 500 cases of assault on Indian students have been registered so far in Australia, particularly in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.” More here…
Meanwhile leaders of the Indian community In Melborune blamed the media in India of blowing out of proportion the issue of Indian students being attacked in Australia. They said it was time for the fourth estate to “chill down” as Canberra has shown “excellent sensitivity” towards the matter. More here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.