Another attack,Rudd calls Manmohan

After yet another Indian student was attacked in Australia on Friday,PM Manmohan Singh voiced his concerns to his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd.

After yet another Indian student was attacked in Australia on Friday,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voiced his concerns to his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd. According to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO),Rudd had called up Manmohan Singh to congratulate him on his second term as PM,whereupon the Australian premier was apprised of New Delhis concerns about the spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia. Prime Minister Rudd said the majority of Indian students were safe and that he took the issue of the security of all foreign students in Australia seriously. He said that he was appalled by the attacks and that the concerned authorities would work to bring the perpetrators to justice, a PMO statement said here on Friday. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith,who had also called up External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to congratulate him,was also told about New Delhis continuing concern.

The situation had become even more critical on Friday after Indian student Rajesh Kumar,25,suffered 30 per cent burns after a petrol bomb was allegedly thrown at him in his home in Sydney. As New Delhi piled on the pressure here and in Australia,police arrested five teenagers in connection with the assault on twenty-five-year-old Shravan Kumar,who was attacked with screwdrivers last weekend in Melbourne and continues to be on life support. The police also charged four minors in the case involving the brutal May 9 attack on Sourabh Sharma. The attackers of Baljinder Singh,who was stabbed in the abdomen on May 25,remained at large. Singh was released from hospital on Friday,

Appalled at the repeated attacks,New Delhi had earlier called Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy to South Block to convey that the continuing sense of unease and insecurity for Indian students in Australia. Certain steps that the Australian side could take,in addition to those that they have initiated,were also discussed and conveyed to the High Commissioner, an MEA statement said.

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McCarthy said after meeting with Ravi,I was asked to come to the Ministry of External Affairs to discuss the recent attacks on Indian students in Australia. Mr Ravi conveyed Indian concerns very clearly and urged that we take steps to ensure such incidents do not occur.

With an estimated 90,000 Indian students in Australia,External Affairs Minister S M Krishna,who was in Bangalore,too expressed his concern on the vicious attacks and said that the Government was in touch with Australian authorities with a view to addressing issues concerning the well-being and safety of our students.

While Krishnas comments and summoning of the Australian envoy show New Delhis anxiety over the Melbourne attacks over the last few days,Indian students are livid over the lack of action by police authorities who they say are reluctant to classify the attacks as racial.

Such incidents have been reported in the past but the police have not been successful in handling the cases. The only thing they did was put up posters that advised students to stay safe,which doesnt help much, Deven Tanna,general secretary of Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA),told The Indian Express over the phone.

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In Australia,Indias High Commissioner Sujatha Singh met Victoria state premier John Brumby and senior state and police officials to express Indias concerns. There is a racist element to some of the attacks, Singh said at a news conference in Melbourne. Frankly,we are all appalled. She said Victoria Police had perhaps sometimes displayed a lack of sensitivity towards Indian students who had been victims of crime,including reacting late to attacks. Comments by police that Indian students should move to safer suburbs were absolutely not warranted, Singh said. It (the incidents) isnt so simple, she said. Some of these attacks have not been opportunistic… They have been motivated by other considerations,which is unfortunate because it does not reflect the true face of Australia. Brumby said his discussions with High Commissioner Singh had been very positive and productive.

Separately,Australias Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister,Julia Gillard,condemned the attacks,saying they violate the fundamental Australian values of tolerance and respect for diversity in our society.

I can assure you that perpetrators in both Sydney and Melbourne will face the full force of the law and I will be working closely with the Victorian and New South Wales state governments to ensure every effort is made to minimise the possibility of such attacks in the future, Gillard said in a statement.