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“Attacks not racial”

MUMBAI: Taking a different view of the attacks on Indian students in Australia, an Australian delegation told a media conference here on Wednesday that the assaults were “not racially motivated.” Rather they were “opportunistic crimes” by young people looking for trouble and the result of students being “at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Replying to questions on cultural antecedents or racial motives behind the attacks, Colin Walters, Department of Education, said racists were everywhere, not just in Australia. He asserted, “Australia is not a racist country. We care for our reputation of being a multicultural society. These are opportunistic crimes. This is the message we want to send.”

“We regret the attacks on students or anybody else. This is not Australia’s way. We have zero tolerance to racial abuse. We had among the first legislation against racism,” he reiterated.

The Australian team comprised Mr. Walters, Paul Evans, Assistant Commissioner of Police, State government of Victoria; Professor Arun Sharma, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Commercialisation) at the Queensland University of Technology; and others.

The delegation mainly referred to the attacks as robberies, theft and assault. Mr. Evans said their police departments did not maintain records of crimes against citizens of specific nationalities. A majority of the attacks were on Indians, he stated.

They remarked there was a rise in street crime in major cities. In most cases, the offenders were teenagers.

However, this scenario was not specific to Australia. Other countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Canada were seeing a jump in crime rates.

The representatives spoke of their government’s initiatives to ensure the safety of students.

“The heads of states have announced a strategy for international students, vigorous action in terms of a review of legislation is under way, surveillance measures have been stepped up and high-level government task forces are to be formed,” they said.

“On the cultural side, cricket matches will be held to build relationships with Indian students,” Mr. Evans said. Meanwhile, a guidebook for international students is being handed out to each student getting an Australian visa.

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