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A policy to measure the success of multicultural affairs and citizenship has been welcomed with enthusiasm

Victoria is known and has been acknowledged by the other states of Australia, to be the leading multicultural state

I, BY t' 'cARL L 6,; ,BUHARIWALA

Victoria's Premier, Dr Denis Napchine MP, joined the Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship, N icholas Kotsiras i\fP on March 3 to launch a landmark policy char will measure the success of multicultural affairs and cicizens h.ip in V ictoria

The policy, Victo,ia} Advantage - Uni!)\ Diversi(y, Oppo1t1111ity, bas received bipartisan support and is a plan to s upport social cohesion and citizensh ip that ensmes the continuation of Victoria's commitmenr to divers ity. Minister Korsiras wanes to see V ictoria commit to screngthening its h armonious reputation for future generations.

The polic y focuses on three major themes : maximising the benefits of our diversity; citi2enship, participation and soc ial cohesion; and respons ive and access ib le services. Victoria's p rogress made across these three pillars will be measured and assessed against key indicators, co e n sme constructive action is taken.

The evening of the launch opened w ith a speech from Indigenous Ausu·alian Elder Carol yn Briggs. Briggs acknowledged the traditional owners of the land and explained how the state of V ictoria is filled with vast landscapes ''\v'ith every different landscape there was a different tribe that spoke a different language," she s aid. "They had a great con n ection to their p lace of belonging. During their time, Indigenous A u stralians learned to integrat e and were strengthened through adaptation".

From the days when Indigenous Australians occupied Victoria, they integrated with each other.

Vi ctoria continues to carry on that legacy and bas been open for man y decades to a diverse range of people Erom all over the world.

More than 26 percent of Victorians were born overseas, and 47 percent have at least one parent born overseas. Victoria is known as, and has been acknowledged by the other stares o f Australia, to be the leading multiculmral state.

Now, Victoria has moved beyond integration. Mini s ter Kotsiras d.iscussed bow Victoria's next pbase is interaction "The policy will help to strengthen a migrant's partic ipatio n in local activities, ensure that they are able to access essential services and, most importantl y, develop a society chat promotes respect and underscandiog," he said. " Thls initiative will develop and enhance engagement by all members of the community. Not onl y will foreigners interact with locals, bur locals will continue to share their time with migrants " , added the Minister

So me of che key issues th e policy will address include, amongs t others; increasing skilled migrants access to jobs, having a compulsory second laf1b>uage caught a t school up to Yea.r 10, enhancing international engagement through u·ade miss ions; addressing special complaints about discrimination through legi slation, improving literac y and numeracy skills of migrants, supporting crossculcure and mu lti - faith inceracti,7 e communities, improving access to the justice system and health care system, improving culcural competence of th e members of cbe public sector, and, showcasing Victoria's cultural, religious and linguistic d.iversi cy Fostering greater interaction is irnportanc for the community and tl1e economy. More people with various backgrounds provide greater potential. Victoria ha s benefited and will continue co bene6t from d.iver sicy. Thi s investment in social cohesio n h as helped V ictoria to g lobalise and i nteract with other co u ntries.

While a rise in population will pose a challenge for Viccoria today, Victorians will be grateful when the state realises its fol.I potential through a growing multiculrural commu nity. The oppormnity co socialise w ith migrants and learn from their experiences is sometlung tha.t should not be nu ssed lvfPs, senior members of rnulticulmral conmiissions and organisati ons, :md members of local communities attended the event to commemorate V ictoria's step towards a culcurall y diverse society. Throughout tl1e eve1iing, a Latin American duo played traditional cunes on their classical guitars.

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Excited winners were chosen from a bevy of beautiful people at the MIQ 2014 event

aBY NEHAJAIN

It has always been cny ch ildhood dream co walk t he rnmp dressed co the nines, with photographers clicking away. By participating in the recently held Miss, Mrs, Mr lndia Melbourne quest (J\UQ) 2014 event, I realised m y dceam and it is a n experience I will always cherish.

l\HQ 2014 is an arnmal pageant hosted by Anamika Sri of Chatismix events, who also coordinated tl1e preparation sessions tl1at included fitness training, choreography, public spea king and photoshoots. The final event was held at ViUage Green R.otel in Mulgrave.

In preparation, February was busy with fitness sessions where we worked hard and got training tips. " It was a wonderful session and it gave me great tips on how to have a bod y like Salman Khan," said Simran Sethi (Mr Me lbourne lndia MIQ 2014). Next followed the o utd oor photoshoot, at which Ramya looked abso lutely stunning and went on to carry off the title of Ms Pashionisca in the finals. At the indoor photoshoot, Ashleen (!vfrs Universe fodia MTQ 2014) provided nmch oo m ph witli her g lamorous poses. We practiced walking on che ramp and displayed our performing abilities .in the talent rollnd An indoor photo shoot was organised where Ashl een (!vfrs Universe India MTQ 2014) provided the gl amour.

On the day of the event, there was a Au.rry o f excitement in the green ro0m while the contestants got make- up and hair done for our big moment. We had all worked very hard and everyone was enthusiastic about finalJ y getting an opporrunic:y to showcase their beautiful clothes, while strutting d own tl1e ramp.

When called, I wall,ed on stage in a beautifully designed sam b y Niket and Jain ee and in tli e Q&A round 1 was asked, "\Vh at wou ld you do if you only had five minuces to live?" I replied saying, " They say that you should live each day as i f it is yo ur last, and if I only had five minutes to live, l would spend it with rhe most imporrant people in m y life, m y family and ensure that each of the five minmes was spem making memories and being happy" I walked away feeling like a winner to thundernus app lause from the audience. All tlie contestants performed weU, walking the ramp successfuUy and answering tl1e questions with confidence. ext, tlie contesrants wall{ed the ramp dcaped in ethnic we;u from Salwar Point and Royal Sarees. Pooja (11fs BeaucifuJ Skin

Q 2014) looked stunning in a red A11mkali suit and walked tlie ramp with panache. The Jase round was evening wear, w ith female contestants dcessed in red gowns from Leie la and male contescancs in suits from Envoy London. Evet'}'One felt and looked like a million dollars in their creative designer outfi rs, including Merry (!v[s Pirness MlQ 2014) lt was a night full of gli tz and glamour for the contestant-~ and tlie appreciative audience.

Finally the results were announced. Everyone had done a great job and there was a definite ai.r of anticipation, but as is tl1e case in aU competitions, not everyone can be a winner The IvlIQ 2014 winners i n the 'Miss/ Ms' caregory we re Ms Sheet:,1..l ChaiJ (Miss India Global United 2014) and Ms Shagoon Bhasin (!vis India G lobal U niced 2014) who will both be ttavdling m Jv1innesoca to participate in the international pageant.

"I feel g read I am very happy thar 1 won this title," said Ms Sheetal, smiling emhusiasticaUy. " I worked reall y hard in the lasr few months and i r has certainly paid off. My future goal is to change society's perspective on Lndian woman. I want to encourage ever y single female ro love and believe in themselves, as thjs wi.lJ result in internal happiness and confidence, and then the sky is truly the li.111ir (for then1)"

The 'Mrs' category winners were Mrs Ashleen Dhamija

(Mrs India Unive rse) and Mrs Francesca McMillan (Mrs Australia Universe), who will both be travelling to Kua la Lumpur to take part in the international pageant.

Thi s year, i\HQ 2014 a lso introduced 'i\lfale' categories and die winners were: 1lr Roh.it Dhillon (Mr Multicnl rural Melbourne (Australasia); Mr Simran Sethi (Mr Indian Melbourne) ; and Mr Aakash Yuvraaj (.Mr Melbourne). "It's been a great learning curve fo r me, I worked hard in each session to prove my W01'd1 and people have appreciated tliar," said Aakash on being crowned with the tide " l have also g ained a lot of confidence and made many new friends I als o believe char the event could have been better organised, but overall it has been a great way ro showcase my talen t. Congratulations to aU die ,vinners".

The audience enjoyed entertainment in che form of dances and songs from talented local artists between rounds.

Anamika thanked die exhaustive list of sponsors for their o ngoin g supp ort and generosi ty. She also commended MCs for the evening, Kritika Srivastava and Muknl Relan.

The guest of honour and exclusive fashion des igner of tl1e evening was JN Collection (Niket and JaL11ee Mishra). According ro designe r s from India, their des~s have a a cosmopoli ta n .look, bur don't shy away from experimentation, reaching ouc to tl1e wocld with tlieir creations. "The JN look is all abom gusto with the right twang of feminine flirtatiousness," claimed Jainee lvus lu:a

The most difficult job for tlie evening however, was that of d1e judges who had a rough job cho osi ng fro m so many eager and able contestants. The judging panel including AJoke Kumar, businessman and owner of Thornbury Theatre; Bindy Rayac, model and entrepreneur; Jvfary Bernadette, former Miss Bombay and dance school director; and Lucy Laurita, director of tl1e fashion brand Leiela

Straight from Melbourne to the Rashtrapati Bhavan: Actress Vidya Ba/an receives the prestigious Pad one of India 's highest civilian honours, from the President

'

Unrecognised ' poll debut by motley group

A former senior Maharashtra cop, a breakaway member of the AAP and an activist working among Sikkimese people - these are among the 24 people who have formed new po litical oudits that will make their elecroral debut, albeit as '\mrecognised parti es", in the coming elections.

The 24 political parties, \Vith names as diverse as Hurn Sabki Parry, Rashttiya Vikalp Party, Apna Dal Uni ted Parry, Ex-Sainik Vikas Parry, Awa.mi Vikas Parry and eveo Free Thought Party, have been registered as U nrecognised Parties by the Election Commission for the April 7-May 12 L~1 k Sabha p o lls.

With e lectoral promises ranging fro m introducing digital currency to tackling corruption, and working for tbe downtrodden to increas ing participati o n of people in law making and administration processes, these new outfits have beg un campaigning among voters across t he country

A leading news agency ttied co track these " new" political outfits - with many n o t even having webs ites - and was able co trace three.

The Awami Vikas Party was formed last year by Shamsher Wazir Khan, a former t-.lfaharashtra assistant commissioner of police. " ln order to work for uplift of tbe downtrodden sections of socie ty, there is no other option but to enter the poll fray," Khan said in a phone interview from Mumbai. The Mumbai - based parry is co ntesting for 22 Lok Sabha sears in Maharashtra and one in Uttar Prades h.

He said that though 85 percent of the people in the country come fro m t he Scheduled Castes and backward classes, they are always kept away from the mainstream o f society

"So wha t if our party is ne\v? The par ty's ideology and our work an1ong the people will help us win seats," said Khan, adding that he formed the political ourfo co work for d owntrodden sec tio ns of society, especially the mino rity communities, ro bcing them imo the mainstrean1

Llke his part}; the re are a staggeri ng 1,617 unrecognised outfits in the country so far waiting co ge t the poll panel's nod.

At the moment, the re are six national parties and 47 state partie s

According to a senior official of the Election Co mmission, " Registered uurecogni sed policical parcies are th e ones who neither come under sta re- based, nor national parties. Therefore, tbey are nor even eligible for a permanent par ty symbol during the e lections"

U nder the rules, these parties w ill be allotted symbols from a list of 87 'free symbo ls' only when they fulfil th e criteria of contesting 10 percent of rbe total seats in a st,'lte o r the co untry

Added the Election Co mmissio n offi cial: "If they win the Lo k Sabha elections, d1ey w ill represent the ir party in tl1e parliament. But tl,e parry will not be acknowledged as s tate - based or national"

They will then need to be engaged in political activities for a continuous period of fi ve years, a n d bag six percent o f tl1e valid votes polled, with at least tl1ree members elected to a legislative a-ssembly and one to the L o k Sabha to ge t recognition from tl1 e poll panel.

Once recognised , the parties are eligible for allo 1ment of permanent symbols

Tbe only Delhi- based party to be registered among the 24 new outfits is the Garib Aadmi Party (GAP / Poor Man's Par ty), wbicl1 ha s fielded 50 candidates across rbe cow1try

The par ry was formed rwo m o mhs ago b y Shyam Bharti, a former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member. Among his poll promises, Bharti has proposed replacing paper currency with digital currency to "aboli sh corrupti o n" and provirling ration cards and Aadhar cards to every poor individual in the coumry.

"Formatio n of Garib Aadmi Par ty was necessary as AAP, which initially clain1ed to work for poor people, has devia ted from its objectives," said B h arti, who is to file hi s n o mination fro m Varanasi - from where BJP prime ministerial caudidate arendra Modi is contesting.

A H yderabad - based omfil, Mahajan Socialist Par ty, is focusing on ''injustice" to tbe Dalir Christians io southern India and is targetcing its campaign among chem ln eastern India, the Sikkim Liberation Party (SLP) is campaigning among the "original" Sikkimese communities in tl1 e nor t heastern state in a bid to include tl1em i n tbe development process.

"No ne of the p oli tical parti es fighting in tbe elections are serio us abom resolving the important issues relating co tl1e development of Sikkim," said SLP president Duknath Nepal over the phone from Gangtok.

" Our party's aim is co develop Sik kim , and tl1e people of Sikk..i.n1 understand this ve ry well. So tl1is rime we are confident of a win," said Nepal, a former social activist.

In their b id to bag as many votes, these new pol itical oudits a re focussing on speci.fic communities and raising issue s that concern them during campaign time Bm only time will tell whetl1er they will even o pen tl1eir accow1t in this election

RUPESH DUTTA

Children do not vote, hence ignored by parties

C hildren cannot vote, they ca nnot make political demands and tl1erefore do nor have any say in electoral outcomes fa th.is the reason why, year after year, p o litical parties have been ignoring the needs of children in their poll promises?

This despite the face rbat children constitute over a tli.ird of India's 1.2'l billion population. Children appear ro be tl1e m ost neglec ted segment in l ndia, wi th their rights being vastly ignored.

"l t is time t bat our manifes tos realise that we have an India with 4 40 million children below l8 years U nfortunately elections ate about parnpecing the elecmrate and children d o n or vo te. Bu r o ur p olitical parties need co remember rbat o ur electora te values the se children, politicians may no t" ,Jayakrnnar

C hristian., CEO of Wo rld Vision India, a grassroots organisatio n working for children, said recendy in New Delbi..

"Children cannot attend election rallies, tweet or engage on social media Bur our children will vote witl1 their di sconten tm ent rhxo ug h rbeir parents a nd comm unities," h e added.

"If o ur finance 111.iniscer is able to .include child budgeting in the mi.ion budget every year, why not in th e mrui.ifes tos," Jayakumru· as ked.

A n analysis o f the 2009 general eleccio n rnanifestos of p olitical parties by NGO Child Rig hts and You (CRY), reveals that the space received b y children's iss ues range from a mere fi ve percent to 14 percent across parries.

Th e Communist Par ty of India-Marxist and tbe DMK are at rbe lowest at 5 and 6 percent respectively w li.ile th e Nationalist Congress Parry (NCP ) scored t he h ighest at 14 perce nt

Pragya Vats, campaign manager ar Save the C hildren, ano ther NGO wo rking for children, told IANS: "Government5 have rare ly prioritised cli.ildren, and fail to recognise that they have rights. l.ndia continues to hit the headlines for our staggel"ing s tati stic s o n all indicators relating to childre n's we ll- being

"For a country whi ch loses 1.4 million children w1der fi ve yea rs of age every year to death and disease and where eight million children still remain o ut o f school , tl1e wel fare of children i:arely finds a men tion in the campaign of a ny political parry:' she said.

Indi a has the largest child population in the world: Over 1 7 percent of the wo rld's child ren live in India.

Of tl1e 430 millio n children in the 0- 18 age-group, a b out 1 60 milli o n are belo,v t he age of six and abo u t 270 million are between 6 and 1 8, acco rding to tl1e 2011 census.

"Children constitute 40 percent or a third of India's popuL'ltion but these statistics reflect that we as a nation are n ot doing enough for our children B y ignoring child1·en, we are nor o nly putting o ur present at peril but also ()Ur future," Vats maintain ed. She said issues conc erning children n1ust emerge high on the political agenda and translate int0 cornmiunents.

In February, a delegation of children, under tl1e aegis of Chetna, an r GO working for street children, mer Congress leaders Mukul Wasnik and G. Moha n Gopal, b otl1 members of the manifes to drafting comni.ittee, ru1d presented a charter of demands. However, none of tbe d e mands were included in rbe party rn,'lnifes co released Marcl126.

"We were surprised to see that the Congress manifesto did not mention a single tl1ing w hich these leaders prom ised," said Chetna di.rector Sanjay Gupta

" Th e parties should rake the issues o f childre n se r iously," he added.

Recently, World Vis ion India released a manifesto for children which included the right to good health , heal th services in v illages a nd free and quality health services for all vuL1erable children in hospitals.

It also d emanded strict enforcemenr of laws against trafficking and child labo ur ru1d be tter o ppo rtunities for disabled chil dren Add ed Gupta, "Children are rbe fumre of this cow1try. They are potential vote rs and their issues also affect the adult elecro rare. l e is high cin1e political parties tho u g h t a bout them".

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Osama bin Laden is gone, but terrorism is not

New solutions need to be sought to eradicate terrorism, as a/Qaeda grows stronger in North Africa and the Middle East

0n March 1 1, 1 attended a lecture by Aj it D oval held at the Uaivetsity of Melbo urne's Australia India Institute. Doval spoke on 'The Challenges of Global Terrorism', a ropic on which he is eminently qualified to speak, g iven his past role as director of India's Central lntelligence Bureau.

Assurning one believes the o fficial story about tl1e May 201 1 Jcilling of Osama bin Laden by the American military, it wou ld be tempriag to think chat we are e n tering an era of safety and !hat groups such as al - Qaeda are on t he brink of being defeated. However accorcling to Doval, such a v iew is the opposite of the truth. To the contra r y, .i tis ti.me to brace omselves for a world t hat is 111ote unsafe dian the world which existed prior to the attacks of September 11 , 2001.

There are several reasons for Doval's pess imistic outlook. Fi rst, there are the te n s of th ousands in Nord1 Africa and t he Middle East who suppo r t al- Qaeda and i ts objectives. The organisation has become stronger and its reach now extends further. Al -Qaeda now operates as an almost global o rganisation, despite the efforts of the American

Central Intelligence Agency, Fed eral Bureau of Investigation and equivalent agencies in the United Kingd om and Australia

Doval aad other inte lligence chie fs appear to have forgotten one of the fundamental rules of solving cria1es - t he impor t ance of establis h ing a m otive In order to ensure tl1e '\Xfar on Terrorism' is more successful tl1an the '\'v'ar on Drugs' or the '\Var on Crime', that is, in order for i t to lead co a definite outcome rather cl1an c o n tinuing o n indefini tel y for anocl1er 100 years, it is imperative that the underl ying reason s fo r terrorism be addressed.

There i s a wealcl1 of research largel)' ignored by the heads of the major intelligence agencies chat directl )' addresses t he question of how best co prevent in dividuals &om turi:Ling to ter rorism in the fus e place. Most of this scholarship is by inclividaals w irl1 significant experience in counter- terrorism and polici ng.

J'vt:ichael Scheuer, a former head of the CIA's Bio Laden unit, a rgues tl1at Islamic terrorises are angered by America's support for corrupt and tyrannical Mus lim govern m en ts, western troops on the Arabian Penin su la, western s upport for fame!, A m erican pressure o n Arab e n e rgy p roducer s to keep oil prices low, the occupation

''First, there are the tens of thousands in North Africa and the Middle East who support al-Qaeda and its objectives. of Iraq an d Afghanistan, and the support for Russ ia , India, and C h ina against d1e ir Muslim militants In other words, Is lamic terror groups are nor all irra tional religious fa natics. They bave rational obje ctives chat capitalise on the public resentment caused b y western meddling in the internal

The organisation has become stronger and its reach now extends f urther affai rs of Arab nations Such meddling has led to many atrocities against residents w h o are then inspired co sup p ort insurgent g ro ups. Scand,11s relating to the Abu Gharaib

The American -led war in Afghanistan against al-Qaeda's leadership has hurt d1e o rganisation, yet Doval is worried about what will happe n o nce Western forces have withdrawn from the Middle East

"We thought the antidote (to g lobal te rrorism) was cutting off their finances and the peop le's support, bm it turns out the antidote was really denying tl1em sanctuaries," he stated in his lecture "They have had sanctuaries in Pakistan in the past. Now if they get a Taliban -inAuenced governme m in Afghanistan d1ey could get sanctuaries in Afghanistan again and the simatio n could be very se ri ous".

Despite spending billions of dollars and sacrifici n g hundreds o f tho u sands of lives, experts such as D oval admit that anti - terrori sm efforts have not led to st ellar results Yet Doval does n ot appear tO offer any so lutio n s apart from doing more of the sam e. He wants the US to be harsher on Pakistan for harbouring terrorists; for there to be greater international cooperation; and for intelligence capabili ty to be s ignifican tly enhan ced. But these are aU attempts at tinkering with a syste m cl1at needs raclical root-and - bra nch reform.

''prison, rorture, rapes by American and British soldiers, and collateral damage caused by drone stri kes are just the rip of an iceberg tha t goes back to America's ove rcl1row of the democratically appo inted leader of Iran in 1953. It is practical concerns such as these t hat have allowed al-Qaeda to thrive.

Scheuer's thesis is su pported b y R obert Pape of the University of Chi cago. Based on an analysis of 3 15 suicide attacks between 1980 to 2003, Pape finds "little connecti o n between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, or any o ne of tbe world's religions R ath er, w ha t nearly all suic ide terrorist attacks have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal : to compel modera democrac ies co w i thdraw military forces from terr itory that th e terrorists con sider to be their homeland". This 'logic' of sui c id e terrorism applies just as well in Sri Lanka as it does in cl1e US, Saudi Arabia or Iraq.

In the long term, lasting gains against terrorism will require all nations to truly u nderstand their enemy. From this undersrancling wm arise a .s trategy for reducing the support that groups such as al-Qaeda obtain from the public in Arab nati o n s. Thi s can be done wi thout appeasing terrorises, giving up legitimate strategic targets or compromising n ational securit)r.