Indian government issues warning to students not to choose Australia as their study destination as it is not safe.
A nine-year-old Russian girl was allegedly raped on Tuesday evening in Goa’s Arambol beach, a popular hub for foreign and domestic tourists. According to the complaint filed by the victim's mother, the girl was raped while playing in the waters. The mother said that as one Indian tourist struck up a conversation with her, another ventured in the waters and raped her child. None of the politicians or elders of the society have condemned this enough
On December 1, 2008, a Goan politician, John Fernandes, raped a 25-year-old Russian near Colva beach. Four (4) Australians have been killed in Mumbai terror attack in Nov 2008. In the past Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burnt alive in their car by Hindu extremists in Orissa and in 2004 Australian tourist Dawn Griggs was robbed, raped and murdered by two taxi drivers after arriving late at night at Delhi airport.
Many incidents like this have become quite common for us. Our politicians don’t bother to look into these nor issue any warnings to our own people. Foreigners in India are exposed to many bad experiences like cheating, begging, unhygienic conditions, lack of safety, robberies, racism etc.
But the few Australian attacks on Indians attracted more attention that any of the above, film stars, community leaders, politicians have all raised their voices on this. But again no one has raised any concerns on the rape of a 9 year old Russian girl in Goa which happened
Indians have been going to Australia from the past many years, never did we hear about incidents like this. But again today things have taken an ugly turn. For me it looks like Australian & Indian media are using these attacks for trashing each other.
The Australian attacks on Indian taxi drivers are examples of urban crime. Yes I agree that Indians are over-represented in robbery statistics and there is definitely a racist element to some attacks, but we must know the real reason for this. The behavior of a few Indian students has definitely a role to play in this all. It’s a common problem all over India and also abroad.
Indian students are allowed to drive cabs; many students especially from Punjab are into this. They are strangers to Melbourne and don’t know the routes very well, they also lack English fluency and they purely depend on the GPS system to know the routes. Some times the GPS only guides the cab thru the main routes and avoids shortcuts. These cabbies are exposed to drunk teenagers and gangs at nights, sometimes they take the long route and end up in fights / arguments with the passengers, some how even these are being reported as racist attacks.
Indian government and Australian government fail to understand these issues. The Australian government policies have too many loop holes and they are unable to come up with the correct measure to control such incidents. The attacks were stray incidents and small street brawls which have been given great importance. The Australian Immigration policy has also to be blamed in this, student visas were issued without proper checks and protocols. The result was that the quality of students that Australia absorbed from the past few years was really bad and hopeless. Its time they have a look into this and adopt a policy where good genuine Indian students wanting to study in universities and good institutes are encouraged and change their policies.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
OZ RACISM ATTACKS - Reasons & Solutions
The recent attacks in Australia on a few Indians have attracted worldwide attention and worldwide condemnation. These attacks caused outrage in Indian Media. While the Indian media have labeled attacks as racist, but Australian police and the government have said the attacks are purely criminal.
I myself lived in Melbourne for almost 6 years, initially as a student and after a couple of years I was employed full time. While I personally did not face any issues of racism and found that Australia is a good country, with decent friendly people.
Indians are among the largest community of skilled migrants in Australia from the past many years. Indian professionals in Australia have contributed to the growth of its economy from the past many years. In addition to this Australia has thousands of Indian students studying in various institutes and universities.
My opinions on Reasons for the attack:
Many of these students in Australia generally prefer to hang around and stick to their own fellow mates (mates from the same part of India). This is a natural and accepted, very common among students who are far away from their country. But now it looks like this being taken by some Australians as being unwilling to accept Australian culture and customs. In addition to this many students who have gone to Australia to study may not be very fluent in English and may not be able to communicate in the Aussie slang. The cultural shock can further add to this.
Another major factor for these hate crimes can be the sudden rise of the number of Indian people in all levels of society. There have been discussions and arguments that few Australians are worried about losing their jobs to young educated immigrants from India. The global recession is also to be blamed in this.
The effect of Media on this issue:
Media backlash in India and the publication of the Victoria policeman as a member of hate group Ku Klux Klan further damaged the relationship between the communities. Adding to this was the Indian governments travel warning to Indian students going to study in Australia. The comparison of crime statics of both the countries by the Prime Minister of Australia Mr Kevin Rudd further made the situation worse.
The publication of this cartoon made Australians quite angry and they started to write about India and how safe India was compared to Australia. In one of the leading news papers of Australia it quoted that “In 2007, according to India's National Crime Records Bureau, 32,318 people were murdered in India. Another 3644 were victims of ''culpable homicide'', roughly equating to manslaughter. In a category of its own, 8093 brides or their relatives were killed in ''dowry deaths'' - murdered by greedy grooms and in-laws angry over the amount of dowry paid by the bride's family. And there were a further 27,401 attempted murders.
The Indian media did not react 10 years ago when Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burnt alive in their car by Hindu extremists in Orissa? Or in 2004 when Australian tourist Dawn Griggs was robbed, raped and murdered by two taxi drivers after arriving late at night at Delhi airport?
By contrast, in 2007, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports, 255 people were murdered in Australia. Another 28 were victims of manslaughter, and 246 survived attempted murders. No dowry deaths were recorded.
The Australia-Indian community leaders and their religious or social welfare organizations have not issued any strong statements against these racist attacks. While a couple of student organizations or associations made a hue and cry over the attacks. There was a difference of opinion within Australia among Indians for these attacks. I am still surprised that no Indian organization or well settled local Indians take any individual or community action to prevent these ugly attacks? If Yes then what ?
I also saw an interview on BBC last week with Mr Anoop Chopra who is an Indian teacher working in Perth. He said "Australia is a great place to live. I have seen racism among very few Australians but have never experienced it directly. Indians are a relatively new migrant community in Australia and the local population is still ignorant of our culture, religion and values. In spite of that they make a genuine effort to welcome us in their homes and make us feel comfortable in their country.When an Australian is bashed, we call it a crime. When an Indian is bashed, we call it a racist crime"
Lately local Australians also complain on Indians:
Many Australians have complained that Indian students are usually fond of loitering in front of their apartment complexes with loud music blaring the latest out of Bollywood songs. In trains and also in trams Indian students speak loudly in their own language disturbing others. Many Indian students have also violated their visa status and are loitering for jobs. Some of them in search of local Australian females for marriage for residency. Many Aussies also accuse the Indian students of forcing their Indian culture in university campuses by celebrating their hundreds of festivals and cooking their foods. It is also noted that Sydney beaches are full of the drunk impolite Indian students ogling and harassing the women.
My Opinion :
As a education consultant recruiting students to Study in Australia and having lived and worked there every day I am asked questions such as “ Why Australians attack Indians? Are Australians Racist? What’s happening in Australia?”.
Most of said attacks on Indians have been in bigger cities like Melbourne or Sydney. Yes it can be linked urban crime where some elements are attacking innocent victims for robbery and it can be termed also as an opportunistic attacks.. Many Indian students don’t mix with Australian people and the only Australians they know are drunk teenagers often on drugs or homeless teenagers in the streets or on the trains. Most of these crimes are petty robberies that happen late at night. Because many Indian students have part-time jobs that finish late in the evening, they often become victims of these petty crimes. Indian students also have this habit of living in poorer suburbs as the rents are much cheaper which is infested with drug addicts/ anti-socials. The western suburbs of Melbourne are good examples of this. Many young Australian street kids know that they can easily get away from the crime due to the relaxed laws on minors.
Need to take precautions and steps urgently :
Most of said attacks on Indians have been in bigger cities like Melbourne or Sydney. Yes it can be linked urban crime where some elements are attacking innocent victims for robbery and it can be termed also as an opportunistic attacks.. Many Indian students don’t mix with Australian people and the only Australians they know are drunk teenagers often on drugs or homeless teenagers in the streets or on the trains. Most of these crimes are petty robberies that happen late at night. Because many Indian students have part-time jobs that finish late in the evening, they often become victims of these petty crimes. Indian students also have this habit of living in poorer suburbs as the rents are much cheaper which is infested with drug addicts/ anti-socials. The western suburbs of Melbourne are good examples of this. Many young Australian street kids know that they can easily get away from the crime due to the relaxed laws on minors.
Need to take precautions and steps urgently :
The Australian government needs to take steps and work closely with the Indian communities in Victoria. The Victorian police has to put its act together and nab the culprits involved in the crimes as soon as possible. Australia further needs to explain their citizens that their country is a home for many nationalities and their economy is doing well with the support of immigrants.
Indian government must also come out with a pre-departure training for all the students who will be going to Australia soon. The Indian communities in Australia also need to do this. The Australian police further needs to be specially trained in sensitivity issues of racial crime.
Universities / Institutes must also join hands with local agents in India and work towards more cross cultural exchange and training. The Immigration Department of Australia should also get in changes to its policy and encourage good students from India who are going to study in Universities and post graduate courses like USA or UK. It should work closely with universities, ethical agents and create a holistic marketing plan jointly to get good top students from India instead of getting students to study English or other silly courses like hairdressing or cookery. The past policies and assessment levels of university going students needs to be looked into and changes should be done immediately.
The Immigration policy of Australia can be blamed as the main cause for the poor standards of Indian students in Australia. Their hard and strict policies have led to scams and shams in this industry. Its about time they look into it and also make changes to the policy by understanding Indian standards and Indian students. By doing this Australia will prove that Indian students are welcome as quoted by their deputy prime minister
Racism Debate
Racism is a serious global issue spread all over the world. Australia is no stranger to this. Discrimination and acts of racism occurs against nearly all minority groups everywhere in the world not just on Indian students in Australia. Racism and hate can also be a reason for attacks in Australia but again the racism issue has been overplayed by the Media. The media made it look like every Indian is being attacked and targeted on the streets of Melbourne. I am confident that the attacks were a very unhappy and sad coincidence. Tag of ‘racism’ will only complicate things and sow the seed of hatred. It is better to look deeper into reasons of crime.
The voice of Indian students in Australia has been heard by the highest authorities in Australia government today. The governments of both the countries also have been in a dialogue over this issue. The government of Australia has assured strict action on the accused. In addition to this it is taking steps to safeguard the student community and we must give them some time.
Conclusion
The voice of Indian students in Australia has been heard by the highest authorities in Australia government today. The governments of both the countries also have been in a dialogue over this issue. The government of Australia has assured strict action on the accused. In addition to this it is taking steps to safeguard the student community and we must give them some time.
Conclusion
There will always be some bad people (in both Australia and India) but they should not be allowed to spoil the relationship.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
We forget the meaning of "RACISM"
We forget what “Racism” means……
The words “Racism & Racist” are quite dangerous. Last few weeks we have seen that the international racism rows are dominating the headlines in India and in fact all over the world. The talkback shows on various national channels, the newspaper headlines for about two weeks now made it obvious that Indians are ready to talk about Indians being racially discriminated outside India. But what about the equally serious condemnable racial discrimination within India?
I am surprised as Indian Media and also the Indian government only elaborate “attacks on Indians in Australia” or issues like racist attacks on one Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty by her white housemates on British reality TV”
My friend Mr a friend who is from North East India, his features and colour are like an Asian (Mongoloid). He has been a victim of racism in many occasions in his own country. He was always called “cheeky” or “chunna” by his own friends. While he was in school he was treated as different to all other class fellows, he applied for a job he was not selected as he looks different and his employer had to admits that they need a more local face for the job. He wanted to take a flat on rent and the landlord did not agree to rent him the flat as the landlord believed that his cooking would be smelly and stinking and would spoil the ambiance in the flats. There were times when he along with his sister was not allowed to enter the pubs in Hyderabad on weekends.
For me it looks like he was being discriminated more than what Shilpa Shetty could imagine. There are thousands of people like this in India who in their own country are being discriminated by their own people. Independent India has witnessed considerable amount of violence and hate crimes motivated by caste, race or religion. Is this not racism?
This is a more serious issue than the 50 or 100 attacks in Australia on Indians.
The government of India including all the authorities should step in and eradicate this dirty game in our own country. India is celebrating diversity, but again it has no meaning if the nation remains silent to the domestic realities of racial abuse and discrimination. Media too needs to play a role in this and educate our own people
The words “Racism & Racist” are quite dangerous. Last few weeks we have seen that the international racism rows are dominating the headlines in India and in fact all over the world. The talkback shows on various national channels, the newspaper headlines for about two weeks now made it obvious that Indians are ready to talk about Indians being racially discriminated outside India. But what about the equally serious condemnable racial discrimination within India?
I am surprised as Indian Media and also the Indian government only elaborate “attacks on Indians in Australia” or issues like racist attacks on one Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty by her white housemates on British reality TV”
My friend Mr a friend who is from North East India, his features and colour are like an Asian (Mongoloid). He has been a victim of racism in many occasions in his own country. He was always called “cheeky” or “chunna” by his own friends. While he was in school he was treated as different to all other class fellows, he applied for a job he was not selected as he looks different and his employer had to admits that they need a more local face for the job. He wanted to take a flat on rent and the landlord did not agree to rent him the flat as the landlord believed that his cooking would be smelly and stinking and would spoil the ambiance in the flats. There were times when he along with his sister was not allowed to enter the pubs in Hyderabad on weekends.
For me it looks like he was being discriminated more than what Shilpa Shetty could imagine. There are thousands of people like this in India who in their own country are being discriminated by their own people. Independent India has witnessed considerable amount of violence and hate crimes motivated by caste, race or religion. Is this not racism?
This is a more serious issue than the 50 or 100 attacks in Australia on Indians.
The government of India including all the authorities should step in and eradicate this dirty game in our own country. India is celebrating diversity, but again it has no meaning if the nation remains silent to the domestic realities of racial abuse and discrimination. Media too needs to play a role in this and educate our own people
Friday, January 15, 2010
Telengana Issue........Matters of Detail
Last few weeks seen many arguments / opinions and agitations for the formation of a separate state of “Telengana”.
Some say it’s a strong linguistic feeling and is needed to attain peace and prosperity, some others say term this Telengana issue as regional sentiments by "vested interests" for "political gains" While some say it will stop the development while other quote the opposite.
The Politicians are trying to make the most out of this situation. Suddenly we see all the congress MLA’s who have never spoken about Telengana during YSR’s time, now suddenly changing their tone and sides.
Linguistic state means that all the people possessing same language should be in one region, but it does not mean that they all should be in a same state, and this is not possible. Some say “Separation” is the democratic desire. Being united forcefully is imperialism.
Today, all over the country wave/demand for small states has cropped up. However the legitimate fight for creation of TELENGANA with Hyderabad as its capital, within the legal confines of Indian Constitution, has had a voice since the time of Indian Independence.
I was talking to a friend Mr Bhasker Rao who is a strong supporter of Telengana and according to him:
400 years of existence as a separate entity ( Hyderabad State ) under the rule of Nizam, before independence, automatically grants Telengana the right to demand a separate state.
Further according to him the food, the cultures and the language has a lot of difference. To prove this he quoted that “In many of the families an arranged marriage does not happen between a Telengana family and Andhra Family”
10 out of these 15 chief ministers till date have come from the non-Telengana regions of Andhra Pradesh either from Rayalseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh. The last chief minister from the Telangana region was in power as far back as 1990’s. While the dominance of chief ministers from the non-Telangana regions has always been there and this is the reason why except for capital city of Hyderabad none of the other Telegnaga regions have improved. This clearly shows that the Telegana movement is not hollow.
Nagarjuna Sagar dam lies in Telangana region. While the original plan included two canals, one to arid and dry Telangana, and the other to the fertile and inundated Andhra region, only one canal was constructed towards Andhra region, while Telangana continued to remain arid, dry and impoverished. All the recommendations that forced the government to construct the new canal were struck down by the majority and partisan Andhra leaders. The coal mines and power plant of Singareni lie in Telangana region, but the backward districts of Telangana get no power. There are thousands of villages and towns in Telangana where they get two hours of power during entire summer, while people of Andhra experience small inconveniences.
With examples like this discrimination is seen in irrigation, in industry, in roads, in canals, in dams, in energy, in education and in employment.
There was consistent and methodical discrimination against people of Telangana for all these years. Newer generation of Andhra and Rayalaseema who had no role in this discrimination find it hard to understand why Telangana people protest for a new state. They have absolutely no idea what has happened in the past and see the present situation in isolation and conclude that Telangana people are brainwashed by their wily and cunning politicians.
The main requirement for overall development of any region is a comprehensive plan for scientific utilization of the entire natural resources of the state after proper and exact estimation of the availability of all natural resources like water, minerals, forests etc., while implementing any project priority should be given to backward areas. Concrete steps should be taken to develop educational and health facilities and to create employment opportunities in all the areas. This can be possible in smaller states very easily.
On my comment that the recently formed states like Jarkhand have not developed:
States like Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and the newly formed Jarkhand, Uttaranchal, Chattisgadh ae examples where there is absolutely no development nor is there any hope of development in the future. But this should not be the main cause of us not having a separate state. Comparing this with TELENGANA issue is not RIGHT.
In Andhra Pradesh a suffocating situation is prevailing. Social, economic, political, cultural, ethical and moral crisis is engulfing. There is no proper educational and health facility for our people, no employment for millions of our educated youth, no security for our mothers and sisters. Retrenchments and closures of industries are throwing thousands of our workers on to the streets. Suicides of peasants due to debts are going on unabated. Because of capitalist exploitation a few handfuls are becoming millionaires. This situation is prevailing through out the country, in every state and in every region. This should not be considered in the Telengana seprate state factor
Rives such as Krishna and Godavari enter Andhra from Maharashtra, through the Telangana region, proceed to feed other regions of Andhra Pradesh (except Telengana) and drain into the Bay of Bengal . The Pulichintala project at Nemalipuri village in Nalgonda district is one of the biggest project ever taken by the state government. The project, a balancing reservoir, is planned to submerge 35,000 acres of land in Telengana in order to stabilise the Krishna delta, which mostly falls in the Andhra region. Many farmers have become landless because of this and this will cater the Andhra region.
Some people term this Telengana issue as regional sentiments by "vested interests" for "political gains". This may be true to some extent only, but again its not true to say that this statement is totally true. The cause for a separate state is genuine.
On Telengana Issue causing lot of unrest & violence
Protest / Violence are a part of democracy and this sort of agitations cannot be stopped in India . Gandhi taught us this type of agitations like protesting,civil disobidence and hunder strikes and and this is being followed by all today.
The fact today is “Telangana is less developed compared to Andhra”. Telengana farmers are not as rich as Andhra farmers. Rivers like Krishna and Godavari flow through Telangana, but the water from the dams are sent to Andhra lands. It’s a pity that Telengana farmers could not buy expensive lands in and around Hyderabad and invest in big projects like the Andhras.
Because of less literacy and backwardness of Telangana people, most of the new jobs, postings in government and education are given to people from Andhra. The result is Telangana people are discriminated in their own region. They are seen as inferior, lazy and illiterate. Even the Telangana language is ridiculed and its speakers are butt of many demeaning jokes ( Telugu movies are examples of this)
Except for common language, the people of Andhra and Telangana have different dialects, histories, cultural systems, different food habits.
Now after listening to all this…. I am jinxed…… (*)(*)
Some say it’s a strong linguistic feeling and is needed to attain peace and prosperity, some others say term this Telengana issue as regional sentiments by "vested interests" for "political gains" While some say it will stop the development while other quote the opposite.
The Politicians are trying to make the most out of this situation. Suddenly we see all the congress MLA’s who have never spoken about Telengana during YSR’s time, now suddenly changing their tone and sides.
Linguistic state means that all the people possessing same language should be in one region, but it does not mean that they all should be in a same state, and this is not possible. Some say “Separation” is the democratic desire. Being united forcefully is imperialism.
Today, all over the country wave/demand for small states has cropped up. However the legitimate fight for creation of TELENGANA with Hyderabad as its capital, within the legal confines of Indian Constitution, has had a voice since the time of Indian Independence.
I was talking to a friend Mr Bhasker Rao who is a strong supporter of Telengana and according to him:
400 years of existence as a separate entity ( Hyderabad State ) under the rule of Nizam, before independence, automatically grants Telengana the right to demand a separate state.
Further according to him the food, the cultures and the language has a lot of difference. To prove this he quoted that “In many of the families an arranged marriage does not happen between a Telengana family and Andhra Family”
10 out of these 15 chief ministers till date have come from the non-Telengana regions of Andhra Pradesh either from Rayalseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh. The last chief minister from the Telangana region was in power as far back as 1990’s. While the dominance of chief ministers from the non-Telangana regions has always been there and this is the reason why except for capital city of Hyderabad none of the other Telegnaga regions have improved. This clearly shows that the Telegana movement is not hollow.
Nagarjuna Sagar dam lies in Telangana region. While the original plan included two canals, one to arid and dry Telangana, and the other to the fertile and inundated Andhra region, only one canal was constructed towards Andhra region, while Telangana continued to remain arid, dry and impoverished. All the recommendations that forced the government to construct the new canal were struck down by the majority and partisan Andhra leaders. The coal mines and power plant of Singareni lie in Telangana region, but the backward districts of Telangana get no power. There are thousands of villages and towns in Telangana where they get two hours of power during entire summer, while people of Andhra experience small inconveniences.
With examples like this discrimination is seen in irrigation, in industry, in roads, in canals, in dams, in energy, in education and in employment.
There was consistent and methodical discrimination against people of Telangana for all these years. Newer generation of Andhra and Rayalaseema who had no role in this discrimination find it hard to understand why Telangana people protest for a new state. They have absolutely no idea what has happened in the past and see the present situation in isolation and conclude that Telangana people are brainwashed by their wily and cunning politicians.
The main requirement for overall development of any region is a comprehensive plan for scientific utilization of the entire natural resources of the state after proper and exact estimation of the availability of all natural resources like water, minerals, forests etc., while implementing any project priority should be given to backward areas. Concrete steps should be taken to develop educational and health facilities and to create employment opportunities in all the areas. This can be possible in smaller states very easily.
On my comment that the recently formed states like Jarkhand have not developed:
States like Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and the newly formed Jarkhand, Uttaranchal, Chattisgadh ae examples where there is absolutely no development nor is there any hope of development in the future. But this should not be the main cause of us not having a separate state. Comparing this with TELENGANA issue is not RIGHT.
In Andhra Pradesh a suffocating situation is prevailing. Social, economic, political, cultural, ethical and moral crisis is engulfing. There is no proper educational and health facility for our people, no employment for millions of our educated youth, no security for our mothers and sisters. Retrenchments and closures of industries are throwing thousands of our workers on to the streets. Suicides of peasants due to debts are going on unabated. Because of capitalist exploitation a few handfuls are becoming millionaires. This situation is prevailing through out the country, in every state and in every region. This should not be considered in the Telengana seprate state factor
Rives such as Krishna and Godavari enter Andhra from Maharashtra, through the Telangana region, proceed to feed other regions of Andhra Pradesh (except Telengana) and drain into the Bay of Bengal . The Pulichintala project at Nemalipuri village in Nalgonda district is one of the biggest project ever taken by the state government. The project, a balancing reservoir, is planned to submerge 35,000 acres of land in Telengana in order to stabilise the Krishna delta, which mostly falls in the Andhra region. Many farmers have become landless because of this and this will cater the Andhra region.
Some people term this Telengana issue as regional sentiments by "vested interests" for "political gains". This may be true to some extent only, but again its not true to say that this statement is totally true. The cause for a separate state is genuine.
On Telengana Issue causing lot of unrest & violence
Protest / Violence are a part of democracy and this sort of agitations cannot be stopped in India . Gandhi taught us this type of agitations like protesting,civil disobidence and hunder strikes and and this is being followed by all today.
The fact today is “Telangana is less developed compared to Andhra”. Telengana farmers are not as rich as Andhra farmers. Rivers like Krishna and Godavari flow through Telangana, but the water from the dams are sent to Andhra lands. It’s a pity that Telengana farmers could not buy expensive lands in and around Hyderabad and invest in big projects like the Andhras.
Because of less literacy and backwardness of Telangana people, most of the new jobs, postings in government and education are given to people from Andhra. The result is Telangana people are discriminated in their own region. They are seen as inferior, lazy and illiterate. Even the Telangana language is ridiculed and its speakers are butt of many demeaning jokes ( Telugu movies are examples of this)
Except for common language, the people of Andhra and Telangana have different dialects, histories, cultural systems, different food habits.
Now after listening to all this…. I am jinxed…… (*)(*)
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