By Murali Krishnan, IANS,
Melbourne : Some of the attacks against Indian students in Australia over the past few weeks had racist overtones, admits Victoria state’s top police official. But he also underscores that the victims were vulnerable due to socio-economic reasons.
“I am not saying there have been no racist undertones. There may well have been but I would like to stress that opportunistic crime and the fact that these kids are vulnerable have also contributed to the number of incidents,” admits Simon Overland, Victoria’s chief commissioner of police who has been in the eye of the storm quelling sit-in protests and demonstrations in the wake of the attacks.
“Because of their sheer numbers, they will be victims of crime. But I will ensure that these incidents are not disproportionate,” Overland told IANS in an interview.
Over the last few weeks, there have been at least 20 such incidents of either students being attacked in public transport or waylaid near their houses in both Melbourne and Sydney, sparking allegations of widespread racism in Australian society and a failure by law enforcement authorities to act.
“They have been preyed upon. But they are vulnerable for a whole set of other reasons which need to be addressed urgently and most of these are socio-economic,” he asserts.
“They live in cheap housing, work late hours and often take on more than one job to stay afloat. Many of them drive taxis in the late hours, so that can invite trouble from louts who are drunk, while others work in convenient stores that are open right through the night.”
“In addition, many who use public transport to go back home that is usually in the suburbs, sometimes unknowingly invite trouble by using i-pods and laptops. The transport system can be unsafe in the wee hours of the morning,” says Overland, who commands a force of nearly 11,000 men for the entire state boasting of a population of over five million.
“Ideally, I would like more men on the force but the challenge is to use my resources effectively,” he says.
Just this week, Victoria Police launched a new scheme called ‘Operation Safe Stations’ under which it has increased its presence in trains and stations in suburbs with the aim of reducing muggings and robberies, especially those targeted at international students.
All the high profile cases in Melbourne – except for the attack on Indian student Sravan Kumar Theerthala, who faced up to party crashers, one of whom stabbed him in the head with a screw driver – have happened on the transport corridor.
But Overland also realises that Indian students, especially those in the vocational sector, need to keep such a regimen because they have to pay back hefty loans.
“I know these are legitimate concerns. Their need to get a permanent resident status and visa issues…but solutions need to be found.”
Gautam Ghosh of the Federation of Indian Students of Australia that was at the forefront of the protesting students agrees with Overland’s suggestion and says educational institutions and the federal governments should subsidise housing and help in “mainstreaming” students.
“Unless matters are sorted out by the government and educational providers to find solutions to the existing problems, it will only exacerbate. Indian students need to plan their trip here and be educated on what they would be required to do,” he said.
“If they can’t afford it, they must not come as Australia is an expensive country. Because otherwise they will be condemned to live in a commercial prison.”
(Murali Krishnan can be contacted at [email protected])