A tale of two cities S

ydney and Melbourne both have their share of international students.

Youngsters of Indian origin have been arriving by the planeloads in the past few years as the education boom in Australia has fuelled their desire to come to Australia and seek greener pastures. While the ratio is more in favour of the Garden State, both cities have a high visibility of Indian students as they work at 7-11s, fast food outlets and petrol stations. Yet the violence against Indian students is deeply contrasted between Sydney and Melbourne.

By PAWAN LUTHRA

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are elements of racism in Australian society, as has been done by the Victorian Deputy Police Commissioner Ken Jones, would have been a good start by the Federal Government. Then pro-active work with stated objectives in tackling international student violence issues would be a welcome step forward.

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The reason for this is still not apparent – whether it is the lie of the land where the Indian population is far more spread out or if it’s the general level of low multicultural harmony, it clearly is a case of the police not being able to do their jobs. Be it staffing issues or just pure poor utilisation of police resources – the reasons need to be explored and the Victorian government will be well advised to challenge its existing strategy on dealing with the violence on Indian students.

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Over the past year, violence against the students has widely been reported in the media. Assault and robbery culminated in the extreme crime of murder as 21-yearold Nitin Garg was brutally knifed as he walked through a Melbourne park on a balmy night in January. For Melbourne this was yet another violent incident in the ongoing saga affecting the Indian community. Within days of this murder two Indian taxi drivers in Melbourne were assaulted by their passengers. Sydney on the other hand has been relatively incident free. One is sure there have been issues of violence and robbery but none which have grabbed the headlines and certainly no stabbing incidents. The burnt body of Ranjot Singh was discovered in Griffith but investigations seem to be heading in the direction of contract labour issues.

New Delhi has not exactly covered itself with glory on these issues either. The politicians need to show more spine against a feral local media who do not wish to let facts get in the way of a good story. Rather than issue travel warnings, perhaps it is worth pointing out that of the 400,000 plus Indians living in Australia, over 99% are safe, happy and enjoying the lifestyle and comforts of their new home.

One has yet to see the flight of hordes of Indians leaving Australia in the wake of these incidents. Politicians and Ministers need to speak up for the masses of Indian Australians also, rather than letting the local Indian media hijack the agenda creating bad blood amongst Indian-origin Australians and local Australians.

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New Delhi needs to work on education as much as Canberra does.

Both cities have faced similar problems. Sydney to date seems to have identified its hot spots for trouble. In Harris Park, Parramatta, Blacktown and Liverpool, the law enforcement officers have done exceedingly well in managing the situation. The State Government under

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Contrasts are also visible between two other cities - New Delhi and Canberra. Canberra and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gilliard do not seem to have a clue on how to handle the situation. Their statements of accusing India of internal racism or accepting violence as a way of modern city life, are akin to rubbing salt in infested wounds. Giving prominence to a cartoon depicting Victorian police as a member of the Klu Klux Klan to divert attention away from the issues at hand was poor gameplay by Julia Gilliard. Perhaps admitting there

At the dawn of the new decade, it is also upon all of us Indian Australians to educate our friends and families in India - through personal contacts, emails, social networking websites - on our lifestyle options here in Australia and why, on the whole, our experiences have been largely positive.

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