I have been following the Australian attacks on Indian students very closely since they began and as I was skimming through the Times of India this morning I came across a few comments from people across the globe on these attacks. They were in response to a previous article TOI had published on a Sunny Bajaj who was assaulted in Melbourne.
One of the comments in particular stood out. The writer said, “ it is really sad to know about the attack on Sunny Bajaj in Australia. However, it could well have been an instance of robbery. Note that a black guy was also involved.” Yes it actually said that.
I was shocked and to some extent titillated. Here was a clear instance of racism. I’m not sure if Mr. Onkar was trying to redeem himself by saying the attacks could well have not been racist when he was clearly making a racist statement.
I have been studying in the United States for three years now and till date I have not witnessed any racial attack or slur on Indians or any other nationality, and mind you, my university is very international. On the other hand, I have heard Indian students speaking in Hindi and saying things like ‘yeh saale gore log’ (these bloody white people) many times. Most of the Indian students are always in groups of other Indian students. They hardly ever mingle with the other nationalities, they speak in their native languages and you can often find them speaking loudly in buses or in the library.
I am an Indian student too. Yet oftentimes I have felt like my fellow Indian students were being a nuisance, however till today I have not heard a single word against Indians or any other nationality by my American friends. The point I’m trying to make is that you cannot rule out the fact that these people are being tolerant towards us.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that these attacks are entirely the fault of Indian students, but what we fail to see is that these attacks could have taken place anywhere.
Another comment made by one Ashwath who has been living in Australia for a few years said, “ Most Indian students here live in the worst suburbs not because they can’t afford to stay at a decent place but because hey can save that extra 25 dollars a week to fund their expensive iPods and cell phones.”
That is another issue one needs to take into consideration. Clearly the majority of these students come from affluent families and can afford to live in a safe neighborhood, and if that’s not good enough they can easily live on campus or close to campus where there is a high amount of security.
Ashwath went on to say, “ The chance of robbery in these suburbs, like anywhere in the world, especially when you flaunt your gadgets, is very high.” That is not a refutable statement. Every city, town or county has its rough neighborhoods. Take England as an example, yet there continues to be a large influx of students and tourists from India every year.
One cannot put a finger on Australia and say it is a racist country. There is racism all over the world. I started this article based on a racist comment made by one of my own people. Even within India there is racism everywhere. We have caste systems, religious stigmas, riots and all kinds of violence over where we’re from, what sect we belong to and what god we affiliate ourselves to. Some have reaped political benefit, like the Shiv Sena, which uses racism as its electoral mascot.
While these attacks are wrong, unjust and unfair, we cannot classify them as racist, at the same time the numbers are too high to classify them as opportunistic too.
I have friends living and studying in parts of Australia, like Gold Coast and Melbourne who are bewildered by this sudden racist label. According to them these attacks have been over hyped. As far as they are concerned, nothing has changed. People still treat them the same, yet now there is a sudden increase in phone calls from concerned family and friends, which they deem unnecessary.
Another point I would like to make is on these protests that are taking place. One of the rallies, which saw the participation of nearly 1,000 students, was organized by the Federation of Indian Students Association, Sydney Chapter, along with the National Union of Students. Students were chanting 'Vande Matram' and 'Baharat Mata Ki Jai'. While it’s all well and good to be patriotic I think it needs to be noted that after all you are in a different country. Behavior like that could anger people. Think about how we would react if a bunch of English students rallied and started shouting ‘ God save the Queen”.
Even community leaders in Melbourne have asked students to put an end to these rallies. Yadu Singh, coordinator of the Indian Consul General's community committee on Indian students' issues, said an urgent meeting in Pennant Hills, "One thing is clear - the rallies have served their purpose and we don't want any more rallies in Harris Park, that is the community's view," Singh said, adding "They are disrupting the normal life of the people in the suburbs."
Then there’s the issue of recession. According to an article by Sitaram Yechury for ‘People’s Democracy’ to attribute such attacks as an expression of racism alone, in the present context of global recession would be like missing the woods for the trees. Racist outrages are an expression of a deeper malaise. Between January 2008 and January 2009, Australia's GDP growth rate plummeted from 4.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent. The last quarter saw company profits falling by 7.2 per cent. Business investment tumbled at a record rate of nearly 9 per cent. Additionally, this year has seen one of Australia's worst droughts. As a result of this, unemployment climbed to 5.4 per cent in April 2009 from 3.9 per cent in February 2008. The Australian Prime Minister has declared, for the first time, that the economy has moved into a state of recession. Though the Labour government in Australia has begun distributing a whopping 9.9 billion Australian dollars to low income families directly, clearly serious problems of livelihood are affecting its people.
This, coupled with the fact that Indian students often take part-time jobs to help pay for tuition could be seen as another reason for the sudden attacks. Nearly a lakh of Indian students currently study in Australia constituting 18 per cent of the entire student community there. So there’s no doubt that these students are taking away jobs from locals.
These attacks have to stop. There is no question about that. As students we should expect that the environment we go to study in is safe and secure. Yet, we still have to realize that we are living in another country, that we need to respect and follow those laws and that we should also not put our selves in a situation, which could lead to such attacks. Violence can take place anywhere; we need to make sure that we take the necessary steps to stay away from such areas.
I’d like to end this on a lighter and slightly ironic note. Bollywood, the Indian film industry has been condemning these attacks and expressing their disapproval through blogs and the rejection of doctorates. They’ve been doing their best to boycott all ties with Australia. However, filmmaker Mohit Suri has taken things one-step ahead and has begun scripting a movie based on the real life attacks. Is it just me or when Indians were getting attacked in England years back, London based director Puneet Sira came out with “ I proud to be Indian”.
Well if my guess is correct and a similar template is used, maybe not in real life, but in reel life, looks like the Aussies will be getting their just desserts thanks to Suri.
http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2009/06/19/attacks-on-indians-in-australia-racist-or-recessionist/
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