Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) In a damage control exercise amid attacks on Indians, a group of young Australian professionals Thursday said their country was “multicultural”, but agreed that safety of international students was an issue.
The 10-member delegation of Australian youth leaders, which included some of Indian origin, said they want their government to address the issue but denied that all attacks on Indians were racist.

“Safety has been a concern. There are racist attacks and there are attacks which are not racist,” Ruchir Punjabi, originally from Ahmedabad, told reporters at the Australian high commission here.

Punjabi has played an active role in the campaign for international students in Australia since 2005 and campaigned heavily for transport concessions in New South Wales.

He said he was once attacked in Australia. “They wanted money but it was not a racist attack.”

The delegation, sponsored by the Australia India Business Council (AIBC), is visiting the Indian capital for a CII event Friday.

Punjabi’s friend David Barrow, who works in Melbourne and is the president of the National Union of Students, was more vocal. He said international students in Australia were in a “precarious situation”.

“We are aware of international students. They are in precarious situation. The government needs to change the situation. They have started but it is taking time. There is a lot to do. But they are committed and will do,” said Barrow.

Charishma Kaliyanda, an Indian origin research assistant to parliamentarian Lynda Voltz of New South Wales, advised Indian students to avoid going to “wrong places at the wrong time”.

“They need to avoid the areas prone to crime. This requires understanding of the area to be safe,” she said, denying she has faced any racist attacks in the “multicultural” society of Australia.

Archie Ravishankar, a final-year law student, said Australia was the country of dreams with huge avenues.

“It is a multicultural society. Everybody can dream and every dream can come true there,” Ravishankar maintained.

The string of attacks on Indians has caused outrage in India and strained relations between Canberra and New Delhi. One of the attacks was fatal. Nitin Garg was stabbed to death Jan 2 in Melbourne while was walking to the restaurant where he worked.

All the visiting delegates condemned such attacks in Australia, saying racist or not such attacks cannot be tolerated.

Barrow said if there was anything that Australian society has learnt from these attacks, it is to ensure safety for foreigners.

“We now treat foreign students as our guests,” he said.