Attack on Indians down under, your reaction...

I wonder. My sister and her husband have been living in Australia for the past ten years. They have loads of friends belonging to Indian and Sri Lankan origin and have australian friends too. They have got good jobs and good house to live in. I have at least three other cousins who live in Australia. One got MARRIED to an Australian and the other has an Australian Boyfriend. None of these people have complained of racism against them. I have loads of friends who have gone to Australia for futher studies and they never faced the problem. Actually if you feel alienated in a country which is so different from ours, then it is not Australia's fault. Why do we leave India and go out of our country. They will resist. I mean we messed up our country enough. Now we want to leave her in the mess and go to other countries to enjoy life. In Australia if they dont like you they will tell it to you on your face and that is what I think we have not been able to take. In other countries it is an undercurrent. Germany who considered themselves Aryans and we belong to the same Indo European tribes as they do, but still they too have the racial undertones. And have you observed the kind of people who have been attacked and the kind of people who have attacked them. All are mainly those whose english is not perfect and look as if they remained in their ghetos never able to accept australian culture and mix with them. That is the first impression of the four five cases. Yes those who did the gory attacks on shravan be brought to justice but I would like to know the entire interaction of the gang and the victims first.

Hi Subha , These attacks are indeed very very bad . However,it is difficult to say whether this is a "general " trend in Australia ;or is it the work of some fundamentalists group out there ;the kind of which exist in India and other countries too ;who are intolerant of other cultures . Yes;Aussies are aggressive as seen in sports . Yet ;being aggressive and racist are totally different things . So , let us hope that Aussie authorities probe the issue fairly and bring the culprits to justice . regards

Subha, please don't make a generalization of my country or the people in it just because of the very bad actions of a few! Yes, racism DOES exist in Australia, but it is NOT a collective mindset of the whole. It goes both ways too unfortunately because many nationalities tend to congregate together in areas throughout the country and discriminate against not just Australians, but each other as well! It's a sad reality, but a minority view and once again, NOT an attitude of the majority of Australans. Australia is one of the most multicultural countries on the planet and people from many nations co-exist perfectly well together and will continue to do so. There is absolutely NO justification for the actions of the people that made these racial attacks, NONE. What is my reaction? I hope they punish the offenders to the full extent of the law and use them to set an example for others. Racism and violence like this is NOT acceptable. To reiterate, please do NOT make generalizations of my country or it's people like this subha, this is totally unacceptable and ultimately an insult.

Hello subha12 I was not active in mylot since long as I was out of station. After returning to the home I read your article really it looks nice. I think you have rightly explained the situation in Australia. I have thoroughly read all the discussins held on the subject but there is no doubt racism against asian people are still exists. We have bitter experience in the field of cricket i.e. bhajji & symonds episode. I also agree with the discussion held by anura there is few exceptional case. In this context the decision of Big B not to accept the honour conferred on him by Australian Govt. I think Govt of India should strongly raise the voice to their counterpart Autralia and rethink about the ties with Australian Govt. pkc3000

I really feel about the condition of thousands of Indian students studying down under. It is really pathetic to think that such kinds of racial blemish still exist in such developed countries like Australia. And this this is not a sudden thing as this was existing from the past. As a remedial measure I thing avoiding to go to Australia won't help. In fact it will weaken India's stand. The best possible solution could be, to increase diplomatic pressure on Australian government to get away with it.

Hi there nice topic...... I saw a lot of heated discussions and arguments above, and all i can say that what hiccups has said is right to an extent......you cant blame the entire Australians for what happened there recently.....we Indians go there to study on our own will and many of us work there as well......so it is a common thing that it would not go down well under some peoples throat.......reason:- Job crises The entire world is suffering from economic crisis and there have been job cuts, layoffs every where........so if a Indian is eating up a locals job then the frustration is bound to build up.......before you get back at me i leave you with one simple example, the MNS leader(you know who) created racism within the same country he did not allow people form the north to come here and work in Maharashtra, the reason the local were not getting adequate jobs......but if you see most of the odd jobs here are don't by these people and the locals would rather spend their time laying off...... He has even beaten up students who had come here to give exams for railways, i hope you remember these incidents......there are many such incidents......when we cannot control what is happening in our own country and cant fight for justice in our own country, what control could we have on an international country......

Yeah!These racial attacks and other attacks are there from ages.Its not just in Australia,they are everywhere around the world.Its because of the unemployment and of course because of some individual grudges on foreigners.For instance,Australians dunno the loss they caused for them self's.These attacks being popularized by media had made an impression on foreigners that Australia is an unsafe place to visit.Till now foreign students education has improve their economic conditions,but now there will be a adverse affect for sure. I think we should take permission to carry some protective weapons,in order keep safe from these attacks. I'm very happy that at least now these attacks have become a major concern for the foreign countries,and now they should take an abrupt decision to prove them self's as a safe country,it may be Australia or USA or Germany what ever..