PULSE: In the News
Business unusual
SEEMA SANGHI
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Will the slew of violent attacks on Indian students, partly racially motivated, make Australia less attractive as an educational dream destination?
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Education is Australia’s third largest export earner, with students contributing $2 billion to the economy in the last financial year.
Photo: PTI
Angry voices: Indian students and supporters protest the brutal attacks in Melbourne.
“Australia is one of the best places in the world to live while you learn. The standard of living is amongst the highest in the world, yet costs remain competitive. On your breaks from study, you will have a wide choice of activities to enrich your experience — from cultural festivals, concerts and museums, to major sporting events,” so goes the Australian Government website: www.studyinaustralia.gov.au.
Education is Australia’s third largest export earner, with Indian students contributing $2 billion to the economy in the last financial year. Australia is a popular destination: The weather is nice, the beaches beautiful and the universities among the best in the world.
About 47, 000 Indians study in Melbourne alone. One of these students leaving India to attend higher education in Australia is Ankit Agarawal, 23 years old, from Hyderabad. He has admission to do an MBA in Australia.
But what was supposed to become “the best time of his life” has been clouded with anxiety. His parents have now decided that it’s too dangerous for him to go. “There is a lot of tension now. Suddenly these attacks are coming up and my parents are very worried,” Ankit says.
Fissures in the facade
For the past few weeks, the ideal world of studying in Australia has incurred many cracks. Numerous Indian students have been violently attacked.
Shravan Kumar, a 25-year-old student in Melbourne from Andhra Pradesh, lies in a critical condition in the Royal Melbourne hospital, Victoria, as a result of stabbing.
Other Indian students have also been seriously injured, robbed and in a recent case in Sydney, burnt.
Last Sunday in the centre of Melbourne, thousands of Indian students in Australia demonstrated under the banner of the Federation of Indian Students Australia (FISA) with the aim of promoting racial harmony and peace. The rally then turned into an overnight “sit-in” where 18 people were detained and complaints made of police violence against the protestors.
Both sides, Indians and Australians, have been alarmed by these cases of brutality and the corresponding media coverage.
The respective Prime Ministers, Manmohan Singh and Kevin Rudd, have spoken to each other. Singh expressed his concerns while Rudd said the attacks were “unacceptable” and that the Australian government would provide greater protection for Indian students. “I am appalled by the attacks and the concerned authorities will work to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Rudd reportedly told Singh.
“There is an increasing trend toward violent attacks among teens and young adults in Melbourne,” says Chris Mitchell, community worker in Melbourne. “Indians are certainly not the only victims — a Serbian kid was hospitalised over the weekend, and an Anglo Australian died from being stabbed last week,” he says.
Research reveals that it’s not just white-on-brown, Aussie-versus-foreigner violence. For him, there is no dominant trend apparent in the ethnic background of the attackers — Anglos as well as people of European, West Asian, African and Asian heritage all feature.
Easy targets?
Nevertheless, Indians are over-represented as victims of crime in Melbourne, as stated by Inspector Scott Mahoney, Victoria Police. This is because most Indian students don’t own cars and therefore use public transport, putting them in danger more frequently. Similarly, working as a taxi driver or in a convenience store, very popular among Indians, makes Indians vulnerable to criminal violence. Simply put, Indians are seen as “soft targets”, with their high visibility as “the other” — particularly for turban-wearing Sikhs, who seem to have been especially targeted.
What becomes obvious is that the causes of the attacks are multifaceted, a mixture of racism and opportunism. The Indian High Commissioner to Australia, Sujata Singh, was reported saying, “There is a racist element in some of the attacks,” but many of them were “opportunistic.”
Many Australians seem upset by the possibility that such attacks are racially motivated as this disturbs their view of Australians as tolerant, accepting of people from diverse backgrounds and proud of being a successful multi-cultural society.
“It needs to be crystal clear to the minority of Australians who might commit or support such attacks that their views are out of step with the rest. Talking about the possibility that such attacks are racist allows this to happen more readily. It allows the majority to affirm what it means to be Australian,” says Dr. Kate Reynolds, from the Australian National University, Canberra.
Since racism has entered the debate more seriously in Australia, there has been political comment, protests in the streets and clear messages from Australian leaders that racially motivated attacks are unacceptable and unAustralian.
The Victorian Premier, John Brumby, has released a statement saying that, “Any attack on an individual because of race, culture, gender or appearance is disgraceful and unacceptable.”
Ankit Agarawal, against the wishes of his parents, still wants to study in Australia. “I have called the university, spoken to friends who are already there, and posted questions on websites about my safety. I think I will be okay in Australia, I know how to secure myself.”
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