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RACIST ATTACKS
It is time
our kids look inwards and apply correctives
Tej Pratap Singh
 SYDNEY:
At a time when many in the Sikh community are worried about the race
related attacks in Australia against Indian students, a large number
of Punjabi students included, a group of journalists visiting the
country have found that fissures existed between the older settled
Indians there and the newcomers. The older settles people, who alos
include many families from Punjab, do condemn the attack and find a
racists element involved but have also made it clear that part of
the blame also lies with the failure of the newcomers, and their
conduct.
Many old timers
from India said the students move around in their own linguistic
groups and make no effort to mingle with the locals. "They speak
loudly amongst themselves and on cell phones while on trains and in
other public spaces. They swagger around with flashy cell phones and
iPods. They stare and pass lewd remarks. They are rude and unwilling
to adapt to Australian culture.” A number of readers' letters from
various Australian cities in newspapers like Ajit in Punjabi have
made the same point.
A young girl wrote
how she often notices Punjabi boys staring at Australian girls or
indulging in loud behaviour and even taking pride in it. Many old
timers, and even some student groups, seemed unhappy at the kind of
coverage of attacks in the Indian media that projected virtually all
Australians as racist.
Many felt that the
sporadic attacks being reported in recent weeks were essentially a
case of “copycat crime”. They said Indians are being seen as easy
targets since they are reluctant to approach the police. Indians
have apparently earned the description of being ATMs — throw a few
punches and you get money –primarily because many students do not
have debit cards and, therefore, carry cash all the time.
Large number of
Indian students are vulnerable because they work graveyard shifts
—often illegally — as a result of which they will not go to the
police in case of a problem. Adding to the discomfort is the fact
that a number of the private vocational training institutes that
have come up in large numbers in recent years and have an almost
exclusive Indian student presence are run by Indians. Cashing in on
the shortage for skilled hands in certain areas, these Indians have
set up teaching shops while the Australian authorities turned a
Nelson’s eye because it was a win-win situation for everyone.
Worse still, are
reports that Indian students are made to work long hours for low
wages in lieu of the mandatory work experience that is required for
a job and permanent residency. “It is a vicious cycle. Many of these
students can ill afford a foreign education and take huge loans to
pay their way through.
They, therefore,
work more than the permissible hours; violating visa regulations and
opening themselves to blackmail and exploitation,” said Immanuel
Selvaraj, a former president of the International Students Union at
Queensland University.
Tej Pratap Singh
will be regularly reporting for WSN on Australian affairs. Feedback:
WorldSikhNews@gmail.com
8
July 2009
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