Attack on Indians A Random Act of Hooliganism?!

Comments:

IS it certain that Indian students are attack based on ethnicity/races hatred? OR is it a random act of hooliganism, taking into consideration that Indians usually work late till midnight and/or drink in public places till midnight. Still I believe that no one should be attacked, whether based on races, religion or hooliganism. But the thing with ‘hooliganism’ is that it happens to anyone anywhere in the world! AND it also happens to any Aussie not vigilant of their safety at night, let alone a foreigner, walking late at night.

URLhttp://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5640381/students-want-india-pm-act-attacks/ (10th June 2009)
Students want India PM to act on attacks
AAP June 10, 2009, 10:54 am


An Indian student leader has written to India's Prime Minister to intervene with the Australian government over attacks they say are racially motivated. The letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was sent by Melbourne man Thiruvallam Bhasi, the Indian Student Magazine Australia's chief editor, representing The Indian Students Forum in Australia, Fairfax newspapers said.

"We humbly appeal to you to send a delegation of ministers and senior officials to assess the situation here so that appropriate rectification measures can be undertaken," the letter read. But Melbourne-based Federation of Indian Students secretary Gautum Gupta called for calm.

"Violence is not the solution to this, we will not be taking the law into our own hands," Mr Gupta said. Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna has also called on Indian students to remain calm, urging them "to be patient".

The letter follows a spate of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne in recent times and assaults on others in Sydney that led to violent protests. NSW Labor and Liberal leaders and police say crime statistics fail to show a greater number of Indian victims than other ethnic groups but they say Indians are reluctant to report crimes against them. There were two reported assaults on Indian students in Sydney on Monday but no complaints were made to police.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has called on Indian students to be calm. The Australian government was working with the Indian High Commission and state police forces to bring the attackers to justice. "It may well take some time to bring these matters entirely under control but we're working very assiduously and closely with the Indian government on it," he told ABC Television.

Indian students had made their point "generally peaceful" protests both in NSW and in Victoria.
"But I simply echo the comments of my Indian counterpart - the time has now come for restraint, the time has come for calm." Police authorities should be allowed to get on with their job.

"We know that both in Victoria and NSW those relevant authorities are working very hard on this," Mr Smith said. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has also called for calm, warning against vigilante action. Mr Rudd said Australia was one of the safest countries in the world for international students. He said while violence in all Australian cities was "a regrettable part" of urban life, vigilante action was equally unwelcome.

"This is one of the safest countries in the world for international students," Mr Rudd told Fairfax Radio on Wednesday. "It's unacceptable for anyone to commit an act of violence against any student of any ethnicity anywhere in Australia." But he said it was also unacceptable for any student group to take the law into their own hands. "I fully support hardline measures in response to any act of violence towards any student anywhere - Indian or otherwise," Mr Rudd said. "And furthermore we also need to render as completely unacceptable people taking the law into their own hands.

"Everyone needs just to draw some breath on this and we need to see a greater atmosphere of general calm." Mr Rudd said students should report any acts of violence against them to police and if their complaints were not followed through, they should go to their local members of parliament. When asked whether the student protests signalled future racial tension in Australia, Mr Rudd said the nation had an inherent culture of tolerance. "With each new wave of immigrants to this country there's been debates and concerns and they've all faded and they've have all been resolved," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said governments would continue to work with Indian students to make sure they felt safe, but the community should not lose sight of the fact Australia was a welcoming nation. "We want to focus on the problems, we want to rectify the problems, but we want to remind ourselves we are a welcoming country and overwhelmingly safe country and this has been a great place and will continue to be a great place for international students," she told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.

"When they are asked, `Did they have a good time in Australia?', `Did they get a good education?', `Would they recommend it to their friends?', overwhelmingly they say yes to those questions." Ms Gillard said it was important that authorities heard about any problems. "We can respond to any problems, we can be talking to the community about safety, what would make them feel safe and what more can be done."