Something About The Law

The recent spate of attacks against members of the Indian community in Australia has spawned numerous allegations of racial abuse and discriminatory practice; the Australian Government is currently under immense pressure to bring such perpetrators to justice. The Indian media has whipped up a storm, devoting several hours of airtime to the matter; quite understandably, the nation is quite concerned with such disturbing developments Down Under. There have been many debates attempting to identify racial undertones in such attacks and the issue is polarizing opinion.

Amrita Khemka (a student from NALSAR who is currently at the University of New South Wales, Sydney on an Exchange Program) expresses her views on the matter. In addition, she has garnered diverse views from Indians who are currently studying/employed in Australia. Read on:

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I came to UNSW on an Exchange Program for one semester in February, 2009. In a little over four months, I have come to realize the fact that there are/have been attacks on Indians, widespread perception being the community is no longer safe from such assaults. This is my first time in Australia; I have no relatives here, but a friend who is doing masters from University of Technology, Sydney.

From a personal standpoint, I would say that I did not face any discrimination along racial or other lines from people in Australia. In fact, I found them to be friendly and supportive; the University authorities, in particular, have been very accommodating.

In recent times, with the increased number of attacks on Indians and the Indian Government expressing concern over the same, the issue of racial discrimination has been in the eye of a storm. Australian authorities, under immense international and domestic pressure, have stated that there shall be zero tolerance to any act motivated by racial differences.

I was curious to know if racism does exist and if the Indian students did face any problems. I then decided to get opinions from Indian students who have been studying here and residing with their family for more than three years.

Here is what few students currently studying at UNSW had to say to this:

Dinesh Ramanan (enrolled in the Masters Program at UNSW) has been living in Sydney for almost five years now. He believes that the Indian media is going overboard with the entire issue. He acknowledged that people who stay out late at night are often attacked by inebriated white people, more so for money and most of the time there are assaults when the attackers are met with resistance. However, he rejected the idea of a planned/targeted assault against the Indian community, stating that people from other nationalities have also been bearing the brunt of such sporadic attacks.

On the other hand, Krishna Ramarathinam (UNSW Employee) was of the view that it is a serious issue and there is a need to protest against the perpetrators. He mentioned an incident where one of his friends at school was mistreated and roughed up while going home. In that case, there was no money involved and it was a racist insult at the Town Hall Station. This incident apparently left the boy in depression for many years.

Piyush Bedi (UNSW Employee) was of the view that while the issue is very disturbing the Indian media’s handling of the same is only making matters worse. The constant use of terms like “curry bashing” on air will definitely not assist the cause (the spurt in hate blogs across the Web may just prove that he’s right). He also said that people need to be more cautious and not stay out late and travel in groups.

He added, “I don’t consider Aussies to be racist. There are pockets of racist groups admittedly, but the kind of people who seem to target Indians strike me as the sort of people just looking to beat someone up, and Indians make an easy target. I imagine that they would do similar things to Chinese people, or any other race, for that matter.”

There are students, however, who question, quite interestingly, our ‘deserve-worthiness’ to complain against such incidents. Sneha (Student – UNSW) agreed with Piyush. She added, “Of course racism does exist here, but give me one country in which it doesn’t exist. India is a prime example where there are hate crimes against people of different castes and religions. Racism is an evil thing and I personally think discrimination is even more despicable when it occurs in places like India amongst Indians. If we can’t accept our own people, how can we expect tolerance from outsiders? I personally have experienced racism in Australia back in the day, and although it was extremely painful, especially when you’re a seven year old child in a new country, I haven’t let it shape my view of this country. It’s my home and has given me much more than it’s taken from me.”

[Arun: Would such an argument hold water in this circumstance? Is this an issue of some sort of retribution against India for certain admittedly abhorrent domestic practices? Racism at any venue must be strongly condemned, and our own shortcomings cannot be used as an excuse to decriminalize or tolerate such incidents elsewhere]

Natasha (Law student – UNSW), also agreed with Sneha. “Racism exists to some extent everywhere. People need to realize that if you want to change something, the best place to begin is yourself. Sustain your own morals and values and work to increase your own understanding and tolerance of different cultures.”

Mimansa (Engineering student – UNSW) says, “Most times the victims in question are international students, who do not have the luxury of having their tuition fees paid for, and need to work. But the fact that they’re on a student visa severely restricts where they can work/ how many hours the can work etc, so they pretty much take up any job they get, and whatever shifts they are given, and they probably cant afford a car so they are forced to use trains at odd hours. With the question of racism, even if some drunk guy is being “racist”, it definitely does not represent the views of the rest of the population…
But in saying that, such incidents have been happening for a long period, with taxi drivers, students etc, and the media is leaving no stone unturned to sensationalize this time. But if it raises an alarm for both Governments in question to ensure safety of everyone, I guess it’ll be worth it.”

From what I understood after listening to the views from people living here, the situation is one that merits immediate attention; Indians are victims most of time mainly because they are scared to report to the police. Even when there has been complains to the police there is no immediate action.

Having said that, I do not agree with the way the Indian media has been portraying the entire matter. This is a sensitive issue and the way it is being dealt in India will definitely affect Indians living in Australia as well. I agree that the there is need for curative steps, but response must be measured and not taken in haste.

On a personal note, I also would like to add that the Indian students who come here to study in the hope that they would get better options are not always correct. Students who live alone and who do not have sufficient financial support are forced to do part-time jobs and hence are more prone to abuse and attacks.

To digress further, I am strongly of the opinion that the quality of teaching in India is as good as that of Australian Universities and hence, choosing Australia as higher education does not, in my strictly personal opinion, seem to be a sensible choice.

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Tags: Foreign Policy, india, Politics, Racism, Rights