New Delhi, July 9 (Inditop.com) Ten incidents of attacks on Indian students in Australia took place in June, and some had racial elements, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi told parliament Thursday.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Ravi said that Australia had issued 58,029 student visas in 10 months from July 2008 to May 2009.
He admitted that a few of the attacks had racial aspects, and most of them took place either at or in the vicinity of train stations.
On June 7 alone, three separate incidents were reported of attacks on Indian students. Two of these took place at Windsor railway station, where the victims were assaulted, robbed and subjected to “derogatory comments on Indian appearance”.
The third attack took place in another area where a female student was assaulted and racially taunted by a group of five people, including two women.
According to Ravi’s reply tabled in parliament, a group of 10 males, Indians in appearance, approached the gang while the assault was in progress, causing the offenders to run off. The victim was then escorted home.
Three days later, the manager of an Indian general store was robbed, with the criminals “threatening to kill Indians”.
Another female student was assaulted on a road leading to a railway station, the assaulters hitting her with a bike chain and telling her “to go back to your own country”.
The last incident reported on the list took place on June 21 in a private residence, where a crowd of about 20 people smashed windows and made racists remarks, with threats to the occupants. They were reported to be “African and Pacific Islander” in appearance.
There has been a massive outcry in the Indian media over the attacks on Indian students in Australia, mostly in Melbourne.
The attacks have become a diplomatic issue, with the Indian government raising the issue with the Australian government at several levels. The ministry of external affairs had also issued an advisory to Indian students, listing guidelines to ensure personal safety for travelling within the city.
The Australian government undertook damage control measures, with a nine-member delegation touring Indian cities to assure officials and parents of the safety of their wards in their country.
Besides, video surveillance has been expanded at Melbourne train stations. So far, 58 arrests have been made by the state police for assaults and other crimes in areas close to train stations.
There are around 97,000 Indian students in Australia, nearly 46,028 living in Victoria state.
