Curry-Bashing

Few people complained of me not giving a space for the much hyped "Curry-Bashing" on my last blog. I left it out purposely because this news in itself is so big that it would have been injustice to fit it into such a small space. And moreover i have my opinion on this subject which i wanted to share with everybody.

On the first note, i deeply regret the incident considering that many Australian citizens of Indian origin lost their lives allegedly with no fault of theirs. But saying that, i also believe that Indian media has blown this news out of proportion. Agreed that some of the attacks were "racially motivated" as also admitted by Simon Overland, he police chief of Australia's Victoria state but this does not vindicate tagging the country as racist. In fact, according to Victoria police officials, in 2007-08, there were 36,765 victims of crimes such as robberies and assaults in the state, of which 24,260 were Caucasian victims and 1,447 victims were people of Indian origin. Many people have formed such opinion based on the souring cricketing ties India shares with Australia. But India's relationship with Oz extends far beyond that with India and china accounting for more than 40% of foreign students- the country's third biggest export earner, worth more than $12 billion.

Indian people (or any foreign student for that matter-recently China also reported a case of a Chinese student being mauled by a "thug") are more vulnerable to attack because they represent weaker sections of the society (in terms of their numbers) with many students working up late at night to financially support their education. The media, i think need to stop portraying this whole issue as one of Indians vs Australians. Because of the actions of a few thugs stereotyping the whole Oz which celebrates a multiracial society is not done.

Moreover the debates whether such attacks were of racist nature or opportunistic ones won't help in resolving the issues. It can at most lead to communal disturbances between the two nations.. Indian students led "vigilante" patrols on Wednesday after a second night of protests which did not go down well with the Australian embassy. Moreover,the Indian government scrapped a series of roadshows in the country which was slated to take place in various cities of Australia to promote tourism in India leading to a first diplomatic fallout. The more of such instances will lead to severing of all ties including military cooperation which is at an unprecedented level with the Australian counterpart and will adversely impact not only "Kangaroos" but India as well.

The Indian government instead should engage Canberra in high-level dialogue on the issue to take stock of the situation and provide adequate security for the Indian students. The Australian government needs to act. The appointment of Peter Varghese as high commissioner to India sends a positive signal, but it is, at best, a symbolic gesture. They should back it with some stern actions against the miscreants who are behind this grave situation.