Racial attacks on Indian students in Australia or just opportunistic crimes?

Posted by Starwin on 28th May, 2009

Two separate incidents of attacks on Indian students in Australia have hinted at underlying racial hatred. A 25 year old boy from Andhra Pradesh, Shravan Kumar, has been brutally attacked by a group of Australian teenage students. He was stabbed with a screwdriver by these Aussie teens that also left three of his friends injured. The boys’ condition is supposed to be critical. In another incident, Baljinder Singh, 25, was attacked on Monday night when two men carrying weapons approached him and attacked him for money.

The Sun Report states that as Singh was searching through his bag to hand over his wallet he was stabbed in the abdomen. Singh screamed for his life, his attackers laughed and fled the scene. The moot question is are these recent attacks against Indian students in Australia, seething with racial dimensions? Police officer Darrell Allen who is investigating Singh’s case said it was an “opportunistic crime”, but was not racially motivated.

The recent attacks can fear Indian students who have looked upon Australia as a preferred destination for overseas education. Racial attacks or otherwise, Indian students have to be careful about not being attacked overseas.

Here are measures that Indian students studying abroad can take, to prevent getting attacked abroad:

1. If you see a group of guys walking towards you, particularly at night, change direction and walk over to the other side

2. Travel in the first class compartment of the train after 7 pm. Or better travel near the guard’s compartment; it really does help

3. Do not indulge in racist comments, saying something ‘rude’ about whites and do not react to racial comment

4. Keep the Emergency police number on your speed dial.

5. Shout and seek for help if you are threatened or in danger.

6. Avoid working on night shifts.

7. If you are a girl, keep a pepper spray handy in your bag.

8. Do not keep the volume of your iPod loud, because you need to be alert, especially during the night time.

9. Lodge a police complaint immediately when you see or become a victim of such incidents.

10. Do not go out in areas which reek of drunkards, drug addicts and anti-social elements.

11. If you are hanging out in a pub, leave before 11 pm, because most pub brawls happen well past 11 pm when people are high on booze.

12. Avoid cheap means of accommodation, because though they are easy on your pocket; they can be dangerous. If you can afford, at least go for accomodation and food joints which charge an average amount of money, rather than dirt cheap.

13. Do not boast about your native language by talking loudly or crudely. This can invite the ire of certain people who may be offended by the ‘boisterous’show of behavior.

14. Do not mix with students of your nationality only. Try and mingle with the white guys. Being friends overcomes all barriers, and that includes racism too.

15) If danger lurk menacingly, pull the door handles of all the cars nearby. All the cars in countries like Australia have security alarm. The pulling of the car handles triggers the alarm and alerts the neighborhood, and the attack is prevented.

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