India talks tough to Australia

Following a series of attacks on Indians, climaxing in the murder of two Indians, India has told Australia "thus far and no further".

A statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, after External Affairs Minister S M Krishna met Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese in New Delhi on Thursday, said Canberra should take "urgent action" to put an end to such attacks and "ensure there are no further incidents of this nature".

The statement said:"It is a matter of concern that in spite of serious and concerted efforts by the Australian government to deal with this issue to address our concerns, these attacks are continuing, and have even resulted in fatalities."

"The External Affairs Minister personally reiterated our serious concern to the Australian High Commissioner and emphasized the need for prompt remedial action", it said.

"The Australian government has also been formally requested for complete statistics regarding the number of attacks as also the statistical breakdown", the statement said.

India hopes that the series of measures already promised by Australian authorities for better policing and surveillance in crime-prone areas is strengthened and kept in place "until such time as the attacks cease and the Indian community in Australia is reassured about its safety and security", the statement, the first such strong message, said.

Apparently India was provoked by Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard's statement making light of a travel advisory issued by New Delhi to Indian students an Indian and claiming that "in big cities around the world we do see acts of violence from time to time; that happens in Melbourne, it happens in Mumbai, it happens in New York, it happens in London". Of particular significance is India's demand that Australia give statistical details of attacks on Indians in the recent past, thus indirectly asking Ms Gillard's attempt to pass off such incidents as routine urban crimes.

Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said India "has not exaggerated" the incidents and wants Australia to ensure safety of Indians there.

"We are putting all diplomatic pressure on Australia so that they catch the culprits involved in the attacks", Mr. Ravi told reporters.

The immediate provocation for the strong Indian reaction was the fatal stabbing of Nitin Garg(21) in Melbourne on Jan 3. This was followed by the Australian police statement that the burnt body found on Dec 29 was that of an Indian worker.

Following the murder of Nitin, who hailed from Punjab, State Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal led a delegation to New Delhi and met Mr Varghese to convey his government's concern.

But Mr Varghese continued to toe his government's line that it was premature to jump to the conclusion that these were racial attacks, and not opportunistic crimes, before police completed the investigations.

This led to Mr Krishna summoning Mr Varghese for a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday to convey India's concern. Incidentally, Mr Varghese is of Indian origin.

In a bid to soften the blow on Australia, Mr Krishna also asked parents not to send their wards to Australia for higher studies on subjects such as hair styling or facial.

Mr Krishna said he was “shocked” to find Indians doing courses they could have easily joined in any Indian city. He said: "One can understand students going there [Australia] at the university level, at the IIT level or at the level of some other institution of excellence. When I went there, I was shocked to see so many students in courses they don’t need to go to Australia for — such as learning hair styling or doing facials. In India, such courses are available in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai. So parents should be more discriminating in choosing educational institutions for their children to pursue higher studies".

Declining to give details of the meeting, Mr. Varghese said the Minister appreciated the way Canberra handled violence against Indians. He attributed the fall in applications from Indian students to the global economic crisis, the higher exchange rate of the Australian dollar and “frenzied reporting” by the Indian media.

Mr. Varghese said the Victoria Police had taken up the Nitin Garg murder case on priority and "we are very determined to catch the culprits."

- Asian Tribune -