By the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) LiberationJune 4, 2009 -- The continuing spate of attacks and violence against Indians and Indian students in particular in Australia has once again exploded the much-touted myth that globalisation promotes and respects pluralism and multiculturalism. The response of the Australian government has been shockingly muted, trying to cover up and even deny the racist dimensions of the attacks, terming them as just routine robberies and muggings. If so, why do Indians constitute a disproportionate share of the victims –- 30% in Melbourne?
One of the important demands of the protesting Indian students is to make the records of the assaults public -- which would bring out the actual extent and dimension of these racist crimes. The least that the Australian government could have done in the wake of these attacks was to unequivocally apologise; but far from that, the Victorian police have unleashed a brutal crackdown by thrashing and arresting the peaceful student protesters agitating against the attacks. It is really shocking that while the Aussie police swooped on the Indian students to thwart their protests against racist violence, the same police have hardly displayed any urgency or sensitivity to stop the spate of crimes and violence so far. This brings out the real attitude and intent of Aussie authorities towards this phenomenon.
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