The absurdity surrounding Indian students being attacked in Australia…well Melbourne specifically (despite what the Indian press claims) continues on.
As I’ve said before, and I’ll say again: any assault is bad. That some of the assaults included racial abuse is a given, and are beyond apology. But likewise the context is primarily one of crimes of opportunity, not race.
Despite the Victorian Government, and the Australian Government bending over backwards to appease India, there are now boycotts and more….
Now here’s your raw stats
Now I know Australia vs India per head of pop doesn’t work, but it’s important to note that assaults in India have a bias towards main cities; still maybe not quite close stats wise, but hardly numbers you can ignore.
Did I fail to mention that foreigners have a far higher stat rate for assault in India?
Must be racism, surely, after all ,that’s what’ happening here…not.
My son goes to a school where maybe half the kids can count heritage from the subcontinent. I don’t make the difference because they don’t, and let’s be clear: if there really was a race problem in Melbourne, the people allegedly making the attacks wouldn’t be able tell the difference from an Indian, a Sri Lankan, or a Pakastani.
BTW: my son has as his second language Sanskrit. I wonder how many kids in India learn the language of their ancestors.
I hate to say this, and I certainly don’t say this to the first, second and third generations here in Melbourne who don’t have an issue, and who….for lack of a better term, have blended with us all (and in that I mean it both ways). But seriously: if you’re an Indian student who seriously believes you’re not welcomed here: fuck off. Everyone is welcome in Australia, far more I should add than everyone is in India, particularly when it comes to caste. I wrote a post about American hypocrisy today; it applies to India as well: link.
Well said – I don't know the details of the beef India has w Australia, but I guess some students were assaulted and a hate/racism label painted on the events; this made its way to India and emotions are high, finger pointing, retaliation etc…
Of course, the stats can be discussed and argued with but Duncan knows it and addressed the per capita issue – the raw numbers still speak.
Well said Duncan, it is time someone tells it as it is and stopped the politically correct cliches nonsense that dumbs us all down.
…as an aside, I noticed that China did not make the top of the crime list, in spite of its huge population.
Well, being an Australian your reaction to this issue is understandable. However, the issue is larger than what you or I think it is.
Firstly, I am in India and I can't be absolutely sure of the ground realities of what's going on with this matter there in Australia. Whatever information I've got, it's through friends, news channels, youtube videos etc. And yes, Indian press may be exaggerating the issue and I won't deny it. That's the primary occupation of mainstream media all around the world.
Also, I have a huge number of friends in Australia and it is without a doubt a wonderful country. But to be honest what's happening in Australia doesn't surprise me. It has happened in the UK, in Europe and in the US to some extent. And it has been happening since a long time. May not be to all of them, but to many of them. The ' them ' includes not only Indians but Asians, especially from the subcontinent, and Africans too. I personally know people who have faced such discrimination which wasn't necessarily violent in nature.
It's only this time that there was an incident and the Indian press picked it up..and then unfortunately there were more such incidents which further fuelled the matter.
Now, I personally don't like to call it racism. I think it's the divide between the developed and developing world. And believe it or not, the divide is growing even when the world goes more global and web workers like you and me have more friends in other countries than in their own countries.
When it comes to Australia, previously there have been stories related to racism especially in the context of the cricket team and have been reported widely by the press here. Now how many of them are true I don't know, but there's no smoke without fire. And that has helped the press to report the current incidents in the manner in which they are reporting.
As far as India is concerned, it has a hell lot of issues to deal with and I don't even want to get into it. I still fail to understand how a country of 1.2 billion people with an extraordinary diversity in language and culture is functioning without going into a complete chaos. And that too with a democratic government at helm.
In the end, I just hope that these attacks stop soon and the press moves on to other matters. There are rogue elements in every society and one shouldn't draw a conclusion about an entire country based on the actions of such miscreants.
I am glad that Indians are welcome there. And people from all nations including Australia are welcome here too. I'm glad your son is learning Sanskrit. As I write this, I am about to leave to attend a book launch by an Australian author here in New Delhi.
When I get an opportunity to visit Australia, I won't think twice. Hope you have the same thoughts about visiting India.
Duncan – I wish more Indians saw this post of yours!
That said some comments
– Cultural non-integration should not be a reason why individuals of a specific region should be violently attacked. These things take time.
– The hue and cry I believe is justified to raise awareness of how vile and stupid such incidents are. A open society needs requires means to vent out emotions
– And I am really glad you have contrasted it with the caste system in India. Could not have agreed more. Each person protesting the incidents in Australia should read this and know that this same shit is being imposed upon their own countrymen for ages
And only a statistically insignificant population learn Sanskrit today in India!
Btw, am an Indian and glad to read this perspective but still condemn the violence.
Good grief man, get a grip of yourself.
You put it right, I could agree with you!
Amber
You raise some valid points in your opinion and they are well said, however, I don't believe it as simple as comparing violence instigated by a country's caste system against their own people, with the violence instigated by racial differences in another country. Nor do I believe that because some foreigners don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t feel safe in India that this makes it anymore ok if Indian?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t feel safe in Australia.
In my opinion, It is important to remember that attacks on any human without reason, anywhere in the world should not be tolerable.
It's true that there is a lot of attacks motivated by caste in India, and India has a lot of issues to deal with, but India?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s caste system is only one of the many reason?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s, that Indian students come to a different country in the first place.
The Indian students have come to get away from such restrictions to freedom as well as make a better life for themselves and their families. They look to come to a country where each individual?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s life is valued, there is no cultural hierarchy and their rights are respected. A place they feel safe to earn a decent wage whilst studying and then send this money back to their families to support them.
I'm sure they don't expect to finish the late night shift at Macca's and get attacked on the way home.
Your home is where you feel welcome, where you feel safe. Australia is seen as one of the safest places in the world, I am Indian by origin and wouldn't call anywhere else but Australia my home, but I am sickened by these multiple attacks having taken place in here. I believe they cause even more of a concern because Australia has always been a multicultural society that embraces people of all races and these attacks to be put simply are un-Australian in nature.
So are we really addressing the deeper concerns, if everyone was to maintain the view that ?¢‚Ǩ?ì if you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re an Indian student who seriously believes you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re not welcomed here: fuck off?¢‚Ǩ¬ù?¢‚Ǩ¬¶?
If Indian student?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t feel welcome and feel safer elsewhere, they can choose to leave, most certainly and unfortunately some of them are considering it too. But every action has a consequence and lets forget the moral implications for a minute, what about the impact on our economy If Indian students stopped coming? there is a small matter of billions of dollars in revenue generated through our education system which is associated with them studying here so frankly if they left, it would be a step backwards rather than forwards for Australia.
No matter how Indians or foreigners are treated in India, we should, as Australians be making anyone that does come here feel safe. There should be no Tit for tat approach.
So shouldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t we be empathising with these students and looking for ways to prevent such situations from occurring in future? Should we really be just shrugging our shoulders, giving up on what Australia has worked for and telling them to ?¢‚Ǩ?ìF**K off?¢‚Ǩ¬ù? wouldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t this attitude just add more fuel to the already, blazing fire?
This is a great article! Ethic and corporate social responsibility is important for us to learn.
This is a great article! Ethic and corporate social responsibility is important for us to learn.
This is a great article! Ethic and corporate social responsibility is important for us to learn.