By IANS,
Hyderabad : The family of a Hyderabadi student, the latest victim of alleged racial attacks in Australia, is shocked over the incident and has urged the Indian government to take necessary steps to protect all Indians there.
Mir Kazim Ali Khan, studying at the Victoria Institute of Technology (VIT), was attacked by two unidentified men near a railway station in eastern suburb of Melbourne.
The 20-year-old student, pursuing the hospitality management, received cuts on his face and was admitted to a hospital in Melbourne. The news came as a shock to the youth’s family as a large number of relatives and friends gathered at his house in Mir Chowk in the old city of Hyderabad.
The relatives of Kazim said they were worried about his safety and demanded that the government take steps to protect Indians living in Australia.
This was the 16th attack on Indian students in Australia in less than a month. Kazim is also the second student from Andhra Pradesh to come under attack.
Earlier, Shravan Kumar from Khammam district was seriously injured in an attack by four men in Melbourne.
“We received the information from his friends last evening that he was attacked when he was going for haircut,” said Kazim’s brother Mir Raza Ali Khan.
“My brother has suffered injuries on the forehead and his nose is fractured. But his vision seems to be alright,” he said.
“This came as a big shock to us. I appeal to the Indian government to do something and stop this violence against our people. I am worried not only about my brother but all Indian students,” said Raza Ali Khan.
Kazim’s father Syed Ali Khan has not been informed of the incident as he was already in a hospital, undergoing treatment for a heart ailment.
The state’s Minister for NRI Affairs D. Sridhar Babu said he would approach the Indian embassy in Australia and seek more updates on the victim’s condition.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy recently wrote to Australian high commissioner in India John McCarthy about the attacks on students from the state and also received an assurance that the Australian government would do everything possible to protect Indians.