rewe eet

Tributes flow forIndian migrant Manmeet Alisher, fondly rememberedas an integral part of the community.

KIRA SPUCYS-TAHAR, RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA (Sydney) and VISH CHILUMKURTI (Brisbane) report

Austtaliawasonlyjustrecovering fromtheshockdeathsof fourholidaymalersatthe DreamWorldthemeparkwhen ManmeetAlisherwaskilledin asense.lessattack,setablazebyapassenger whiledrivingaTranslinkbusinBrisbane's southernsuburbs.

The29-year-oldneverstoodachance.

Maruneethadrecemlybegunhiscasual jobasabusdriverandwaslookingforward cosoonreturningto[ndiacomarry.

Noneofthepeoplewaitingatthebus stopthatFridaymorninghadanyinkling ofwhatwasabouttohappenwhenthebus scoppedtopickuppassengers.

Accordingtowitnesses,48-year-old Moorookaman,AnthonyMarkEdward O'Donohue,oneofthreepeoplewho boardedthebus,threwan"incendiary device"atManmeet,sparkingafirethat killedhimandinjuredpassengerson-board.

WhileManmeetwastrappedinthe driver'sseat,sixpassengerswerealso trappedinsidethebusunablecoescapethe spreadingfire.

Hearingtheirdesperatecriesforhelp,a passer-by,taxidriverAguekNyok,kicked theback.doorofthebusopenandhelped thepassengersout.Butitwascoolatefor l\fanmeet.

"Thefirewassubstantial,"said QueenslandPoliceSuperintendentJim Keogh."Hewouldhavestoodlittlechance."

Losing Manmeet

_ManmeetAlisher,alsoknownasManmeet Sharma,wasanintegralpartofthelocal IndianAusttaliancommunityandalsoajunior memberofAamAdmiParty,whichhasa widefollowinginhishomestateofPunjab.

HewasfromthevillageofAlisher andhadadoptedthenameofhisnative villageforhisstagepersona.Hearrivedin Austtaliaaboutnineyearsagoonascudent visaandwasgrantedAustraliancitizenship sixmonthsago.

HehadjoinedtheBrisbaneCityCouncil asabusdrivertwomonthsago,andbefore thathedrovetaxisaroundthecityforabout sixorsevenyears.

The29-year-old'sbrother,Amit,arrived inBrisbaneontheSundaymo_t:ning followingtheattacktocakehisbrother's bodyhome.

"Hewasnotonlyadriver,heisashining scar,agoodartist,agoodhero,hehad mademovies,hewasagoodsocialworker, hedidalotofthingsforhiscommunity inAustraliaeveninIndiaalso,"longtimefamilyfriendWinnerjitGoldy,who accompaniedAmit,toldmedia.

Inaspookycoincidence,agrateful Manmeethadpresentedaheart-felttribute tohisfatheronlyweeksbeforehepassed. InhisPw1jabipoem.Brljntterekarh,km11aon joggibogqyahethankedhisdadforalld1at hehaddoneforhim;healsopromisedhis ownshareofdutifulcare.

('YoutookmeroLmdtownonyour bicycle;nowI'lldriveyouroundtowninmy Audi';and,'Youputmeintheshadeandsat inthescorchingheatyourself,nowI'llseat youinair-conditionedcomfort').

Indeed,hewasatypicalyouthfrom middleclassPunjabwhocameheretoeke ouraJivingandimprovehisqualityoflife throughsheerdeterminationandhardwork. Sadly,hisfatherwillnownotbeablero reaptherewardsofcoolcomforthisson wantedtoaffordthefamily.Inface,the familyhasdecidednottotelltheparents thatManmeetisdeaduntilhisbodyis home,as"Theyaretoo old -myfatheris70 -d1eywon'tbeabletotakeit,"AmitAlisher toldthe Brisbane Times.

Inatelephonecallwid1PrimeMinister MalcolmTurnbull,IndianPrimeMinister arendraModiconveyedasenseof concernbeingfeltinIndiaovertherecent brutalkillingofManmeet.PrimeJ',,liniscer Turnbullexpressedshockatd1ekilling andconveyedthatdiematterisbeing investigated.IndianHighCommissionerin AustraliaNavdeepSuriextendedallhelp possibletothefamily.

Farewellto a cheerful friend

Thecity of Brisbanewasshell-shocked as the news of Manmeet'sdeathspread;hewasa popularmember of thePunjabi community. Mamneet was aregular broadcaster of the PunjabilanguageprogramonRadio 4EB, amulticultural radio station.Hewas also anactivetheatreaccor andwasaregular member of lndozTheatreGroup founded by Rashpal SinghHeyer.

"Hewas oneof our senior members," Heyer cold TndirmI.ink. "Hewas the lead in aplay that Iwroteand directed called CbatumCho,;he wassimply brilliant inic. Hewasapoet,writer, actor andsinger. Together we didstageshows, radio shows andkavida1·ban(poetryevents),and even threeshort films.All heeverwanted codo wasentertain."

Butit is J\fanmeec's Erienclly nanU"ethat Rashpal Heyer will remember themost. "Thereadysmileonhis facewashis trademarkfeanue."

Rasbpal and Manmeet had been collaborating for fiveyears and were about to embarkonanewproduction,Di/aP"tti, for which rehearsals weredueto beginin eai:ly November.

Indeed,Manmeechad alsomadea foray into the fieldof movieproductionandhad beenapart of theproductionteamfor threemovies inhisnativelanguage.

His earthy styleof singing, with which heentertained atmany of the Indian community's events inBrisbane,clearly showed him offasatrue 'p11ttPunjr,bdr,' (son of Punjab). Iohis short films,he sent omthemessageof honest living and humanitarianism.

Safetyfor transport workers

Manmeet Alisher'sdeath hasexposed thelifethreatening risksthat arefaced by workersinthepublic transport industry.

Rashpal Singh Heyer saidthat adelegation representingpublic transport workers has proposedto the LordMayor Graham Quirk to bring about changes inlegislation to makesuch heinouscrimespunishablemore severely inorderto beadeterrent inthe funue.TheLordMayor reassmedworkers that special focus in theinvestigationswill belaid on theoccupational health and safety aspects of the incident, suchasexit doors andsafery information for passengers.

On the Monday following the attack, bus driversacross South Australiaworeblack armbandsinmemorial of Manmeet Alisher. The Transport Workers Unionalso made counsellors available at bus depots across the Scaceto providesupport for drivers.

A recentsurvey of SA bus drivers carriedout bytheT\.VU showed over half of drivers facedaggressivepassenger behaviour at leastonceaweekwhile 80%feltthreatenedby the behaviour of passengers on their bus. Following the releaseofthesurvey, SA's:tvlinister for Transport StephenJ\,fullighanintroduced tougherpenalties for peoplewho attack public transport driversor secttrityguards on busand railnetworks. lnSydney,hundredsof membersofthe community gatheredat RobynThomas Reservein Parramatta.A slideshow about Manmeet's lifeand work wasplayed,and vat:iousdignitat:iesandlocals offered their condolences to thefamil)'·

The community mourns Gatherings of mottrnershavetaken placeacrossAustraLiainrecent days in spontaneousgesmresofgrief, dismay and loss at the horrific killing of Manmeec.

Onthe Samrday evening following theattack,theresidents of Moorookain Brisbaneorganised avigil in his memory. Hundreds of people from various communities paid homageco thepopular thespian andradio jockey.The Lions Club, BrisbaneCity Councilworkers,hundredsof taxi driversand members of theBrisbane Sikh Temple, LoganRoad,thevenue of a later vigil, werepresent to mournthe muchloved busdt:iver.Members of the Sikh community have also setupthe M=eet A.lisher Memorial Foundation Trust.

As Rashpal SinghHeyer said,"Thewider Australiancommunity hasshown avery macttreresponseto themishapandI expect that theQueensland PoliceServicewill ensurethat justicewill becarried out."

InAdelaide, morethan600people gatheredat Tandanyunga(formel"ly known asVictoriaSquare)surrmmdedby the constant streamof trams and buses.A friend of Manmeet's,J\,fi.nmBrarread a personal messageand then ashort message of thanksfromManmeet'sbrother, Amit. Also in attendancewasManmeet's Adelaide-based cousinHimanshu Sharma. Manmeec hadperformedat alocal Adelaide Diwali rnelatheprevious Sunday.

Hundreds alsogatheredat Melbourne's Federation Squareto hold acandlelightvigil inmemory of Manmeec.Localcommunity leaders usedtheir speeches to demand justice for his family.

Indeed, Manmeet Alisher's death has toud1edthewider Australiancommunity , with strangers reachingout onsocial media to paytheir respects.Mona Razzal,wrote on Manmeet's Facebookprofile, "Iam so tinbelievably sorry thishappenedto you. I personallydon'tknowyou Manmeet but myparentscameherewith adream to make it in this country and I imagineyouwere the same. Rest in peaceandmy condolences to your family."Will Reidwrote, "Idon't know you,but asmilepersonallytellsmealot about one'ssoul RIPchampion." While Joy Kellywrote,"I don't know you,but you andyour family areinmy thoughts and I'm honestly soheartbroken. I'm sorry tlus happened to you. I'm sorry you didn't gettomakeit hometakeoff your shoesafter aday'swork,andbecomfortable with your loved ones talking about your day over dinner. I'm sorry that your time was cue short beforeyougot to accomplish all that you wanted, but know that you made animpact andinspired od1ers. Peace,love, and warmth."

Others reached out as the incident lut closeto home. Dexter Mejiawrote, "My partner andI send our condolences co your family Mypartneris abusdriver aswell andtlusscoryhas affected us gravely. I hope thegovernment will do morecoprotect om transport workers."

The discussion turnsto racism

DespiteQueensland Policerulingout racism or terrorism as amotivefor the attack,many onsocialmediavented anger andtheconversation nrrnedinto a discussionabout racist behaviour inthe community. Indeed,many in Indiasuspect Manmeet's killingwas ahatecrime.

Gagandeep Luchrawrote,"I am sttre theattacker will escapehis ct:imewithout adequatepunishmentimposedonhim. We lost aperson fromour community andI am suretl1iswas apre-plannedracist attack due tothefacethat somepeople can'tdigest tl1efact that Indians work really hard day and 1ughtto make cheir lives better and help improveAustralia's economy wishthe attacker was back in India �1e] won'thave beenspared (sic)."

Terewrote,"I hate Australia,ittook away my friend" (translated from Hindi). Sunny Nandi wrote, "f Aussies" andSiddharth Jhawrote, "Didn't know suchkind of vile racism existedin Australiansociety.Thisis beyondhorrifying. Such kind of inhumane acts arenotexpectedin somedirt poor wartornAfrican country,let aloneAustralia. Really, evenafter 200years, Australiaisstill filledwith sick, depraved criminals.There wereother passengers too, but heespecially targeted thedriver, so it'snot acompletely random attack and looks to meit was racialJy motivated."

Ma.nmeet's brod1er told the ABCtl1ac whilehis family undersroodPolicedidnot believetheattack\Vas racially motivated, they fearedit might bethecase.

"W/esuspectthatitmay be (racially motivated),"he said. "W/ewould liketo see dueprocess,wehavefaithin tbe Australian system."

Afterreports emergedd1at thealleged attackersuffers from mental illness,several onlineposts slammed thesuggestions. Ku.lwinder Brarwrote, "It is just rubbish d1at heismentally sick. No matter if heis physical or mentallyill,who cares about him? Hecommitted acrime.Shouldbehanged tilldeath Wewantjusticefor Manmeet and his family."SomanHundal wrote,"Hedoes notseemtobes.ick hemustbebttrntalive" andaFacebookpagecalled'RIP Manmeet Alisher'wrote,"Itisahumblerequest and appeal to alltl1e Punjabislivingin and out of Australiato demand forjusticefor i\fanmeet.Makesurethatthemurderer must behangedtill death or burnt alive.Don't let the AustralianGovtleavehimfreeby just declaringhimmentally sick " r\nthony Mark Edward O'Donohue appearedin court on Satttrday after d1e attackcharged withmurder,arsonand11 coumsof attemptedmttrder.

Hewasremanded incustody, with the caseto beheard againlacenext month.

Supportfor the future

"The bestway wecan assisthis family at chistimeis notonlythrough our words of condolenceandsympad1y,but also in a practical way,"said Lord Mayorof Brisbane City GrahamQuirkas he announcedthe Council willdonate $10,000 to Mann1eet's family through d1eManmeec SharmaTrust _ithas setup.

DepmyMayor andpubLic transport chairmanAdrian Sch_rinner was very emotionalashecold tl1e meeting, " lc'san absolutetragedy andwhilewecan't changewhat happened, wecan't change the events of last week, wecan ensure drnt i\llanmeet's memorylives on inthepeople of Brisbane."

Greens councillor Jonathan Sri, who isof S_ri Lankandescent, saidhecouldemphasise with Manrneet Sharma's family.

"Theysend themaway witl1 the best of intentions andsomuch loveintheir hearts andit's agreat painto send yomson or daughter to dieother side of theworld, notknowingwhen you'll seethemagain," he said. "Andthey havethepridethat they havemade ic,they've goneto the \Xlest, they'vegoneco Australia.

"\Vhat ajoy to talk to om friendsin tl1e \Tillages and say how wonderfulit is drnt he is over there,tliat sheis over there, and for thisto happen makes meso, sosad.

"I wishtl1erewasmoreI couldsay or do to easeyour pain andthereis nothing."

Cr Sci acknowledged therebeen no allegation of racial motivation behindthe attack, "wecanalways do more".

''Wedon't always make it easy for our brothers andsisterswho comehere from other countries and, at times like tl1is, I thinkit'simportantthat werecognisethat."

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