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Sunday, Jul 05, 2009
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Attacks divide Indians Down Under

Anita Joshua

Indian students unwilling to adapt to Australian culture
Indians are being seen as easy targets

SYDNEY: The attacks on Indian students in Australia over the past two months have split the Indian community in the country. Broadly, the divide is between the entrenched Indian community and the newcomers but it is so evident that Australian authorities too comment on the disconnect.

The old-timers do not just echo the government’s stated position that the attacks are instances of “opportunistic crime” and not racist in nature, but openly find fault with the way in which the new crop of students from the sub-continent have been conducting themselves.

The litany of faults with the Indian students runs thus: “They move around in their own linguistic groups and make no effort to mingle with the locals. They speak loudly amongst themselves and on cell phones while on trains and in other public spaces. They swagger around with flashy cell phones and iPods. They stare and pass lewd remarks. They are rude and unwilling to adapt to Australian culture.”

If Australians are smarting over the ‘racist’ tag, the Indian community is bristling and the group of journalists from India on a visit sponsored by the Australian government drew flak for the media’s response to the attacks.

They are loud and rude

Some are upset primarily because the media focus on the issue – described as “curry-bashing” among students — has singled them out in their own small local communities. Others feel that the sporadic attacks being reported in recent weeks were essentially a case of “copycat crime” as now Indians are being seen as easy targets since they are reluctant to approach the police. Indians have apparently earned the description of being ATMs — throw a few punches and you get money – primarily because many students do not have debit cards and, therefore, carry cash all the time.

The established Indians here are visibly upset by the student reaction. While conceding that there can be no justification for the attacks, people like Yadu Singh — a cardiologist of 20 years standing here — feel the Indian students are bringing the community a bad name with their loud behaviour. “And, they make themselves vulnerable by working graveyard shifts — often illegally — as a result of which they will not go to the police in case of a problem.”

Adding to the discomfort is the fact that a number of the private vocational training institutes that have come up in large numbers in recent years and have an almost exclusive Indian student presence are run by Indians. Cashing in on the shortage for skilled hands in certain areas, these Indians have set up teaching shops while the Australian authorities turned a Nelson’s eye because it was a win-win situation for everyone.

Worse still, are reports that Indian students are made to work long hours for low wages in lieu of the mandatory work experience that is required for a job and permanent residency.

“It is a vicious cycle. Many of these students can ill afford a foreign education and take huge loans to pay their way through. They, therefore, work more than the permissible hours; violating visa regulations and opening themselves to blackmail and exploitation,” said Immanuel Selvaraj, a former president of the International Students Union at Queensland University.

While his view was promptly dismissed as pro-Labour, other Indians who have made it good and swear by Australia and its ways can be caught turning their noses at what one academic described as the “underclass of Indian society” which has made its way Down Under.

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