Racial Violence and Australian Attitude

Despite all claims and promises made by Australia, attacks on Indians are continuing unabated. No impact of the strong reaction and the grave concern expressed by the Indian Government, and the advisory issued by it to Indians living in Australia, has been noticed, as yet. The attempt to burn an Indian alive on 8 January last goes to prove that the Australian Administration has failed to prevent attacks on Indians.

Reasons for Attacks
Two Indians, Nitin Garg and Ranjot, have been killed in Australia during last fortnight, and now a murderous assault was carried out on Jaspareet Singh, who hails from Haryana. Strangely, the Australian Government is unwilling to admit that the assault on Jaspareet was carried out because of racial hatred. Our own government is avoiding saying it in so many words because of diplomatic expediencies. One wonders if these are usual and common kind of attacks, why are only Indians being targeted?
There is always a motive behind every crime. One wonders that if these attacks on Indians are not because of racial reasons, what is the motive behind them? Did the Australian Administration find the causes behind almost 100 attacks carried out against Indians during 2009?

Failure of Australian Government
In a developed country like Australia, crime rate is much low than that in developing countries. The rate of attacks on Indians during 2009 was five times higher than that in 2008. Yet, the failure of the Australian Government to investigate these crimes reflects how carelessly and non-seriously the government there takes these attacks. It is, perhaps, because of this that the Government of India has reacted rather sharply to the Jaspreet case. Union Minister for Affairs of Indian Diaspora Vyalar Ravi has expressed annoyance and asked why the government there does not arrest such attackers? The statement is the manifestation of the annoyance of the Government of India against the apathy shown by the Australian administration.
India has categorically stated that the Australian administration is not fulfilling its promises in this regard. How strange is it that four persons threw some inflammable object on Jaspreet and set him afire, yet the Australian police maintain that it was no racial attack. On what basis have the police jumped to that conclusion? If they believe that the attack was not racial, they should explain the reasons why Jaspreet was attacked. If the police are not doing so, it implies that no necessary and desirable attempts have been made to prevent such attacks. Clearly, such a casual government attitude encourages those who indulge in violence.

Impact on Australian Economy
Yet another aspect of these attacks is that they may weaken the Australian economy as well, because that country earns around $13 billion from foreign students. Going by the continuing attacks on Indian students there, the number of students going to Australia may come down drastically, which may cause a loss to Australia to the tune of $700 million. The issue is not confined to Indian students alone; students from other countries may also think twice before applying for admission in Australian institutions.
There are apprehensions that the number of students going to Australia may come down by 50 percent, and the loss may further get multiplied. The advisory issued by the Government of India to students in Australia calls upon students to avoid going alone to secluded or dark areas, and always to venture out in groups. The External Affairs Ministry has indicated that if effective measures are not initiated, India may declare Australia as an unsafe country. It calls for Australia to change its mindset and take the issue seriously by initiating effective steps to prevent such attacks.