The recent spate of attacks on Indian students in Austrailian cities has attracted enormous attention in various quarters and proves an irritant in Indo-Austrailian relations.
The recent spate of attacks on Indian students in Austrailian cities has attracted enormous attention in various quarters and proves an irritant in Indo-Austrailian relations. Aruna Chandrala insists there is no racism involved in the attacks and that Indians are not the only ones who have been at the receiving end. Koreans and Chinese students too have been attacked but the focus is on Indian students because of a proactive media and a proactive Indian government.
She should know after living in Australia for 26 years. Aruna is also at the forefront of liaisoning between the local and federal governments in Australia, on the one hand, and the Indian embassy and various Indian students, on the other, to reassure the students of their security. Aruna (45) spoke to Deccan Herald last week when she came home on vacation.
Excerpts: There’s no racial element involved in the attacks? Definitely. I should know because I have been in Australia for 23 years. We live in a white-dominated neighbourhood. I go about in a sari. I raised my two kids there. There is definitely no racism in Australia. I feel very much at home there. Then why these attacks, especially on Indian students? There are several reasons. One is that Indians are the fifth largest immigrant community. There is also the sudden and high visibility of foreigners..then, Indian students grab all jobs. They work late hours, walk to work in the night or return from work, may be their mobile phones attract the attackers…Overall, the students are a soft target. You must also remember that those who attack are poor unemployed social misfits and there are such people in every society. Violence is happening everywhere, in US, in India…it is a global phenomenon, not specific to Australia.
How has the Indian community reached out to the students? The United Indian Associations Inc organized an interface between the students, community leaders, top police officials, Australian student leaders. We also liaised with the Indian Embassy and met vice-chancellors of universities, gathered data of Indian students. We helped the police set up a helpline for Indian students, the local government is lighting up stations, the federal government has set up a Task Force to study this issue...
We get a feeling from the media that Indians are perhaps being specifically targeted. We also thought so. But we learnt at the students forum organised by UIA that Chinese and Korean students too have been attacked. The Indian media should be congratulated for highlighting this issue which made the Government of India take it up with our federal government. Other countries have not acted because their governments, and of course, their media are not as proactive. As first generation immigrants did you face such situations? The earlier generations had access to both quality employment and quality life. We are taking up this issue. We are asking the Australian government to provide opportunities of quality employment. Our students work in whatever job they can get: in restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, as taxi drivers, security guards. They are also highly exploited, even by Indian businesses. They provide cheap labour for all. They work late hours, live in downtown neighbourhoods, try to save money in any way they can. Again it is not just Indian students. All overseas students are in the same boat.
Is there an issue of Indian students being socially ill-behaved and hence stand out? They are not familiar with Australian etiquette and we believe the Australian universities should work on this front. Indian parents too should not pressurize their children to earn as they study, which puts them at risk. They should also take enough care to check out the credentials of courses before getting admission. The Australian government told us that several hospitality and catering courses and some other technical courses are either bogus or are small-scale ventures giving certificates that don’t help the students to land a good job. So, Australia is safe for our students? Australia is a safe country for every single person. It is a highly disciplined society and has a committed police and government. The media should not show every violent incident as a deliberate attack or portray the country as racist. I don’t know if you are aware that a white Australian bought the air-tickets for the family of a Telugu student attacked in Melbourne, because they could not afford the travel. R. Akhileshwari in Hyderabad
The recent spate of attacks on Indian students in Austrailian cities has attracted enormous attention in various quarters and proves an irritant in Indo-Austrailian relations. Aruna Chandrala insists there is no racism involved in the attacks and that Indians are not the only ones who have been at the receiving end. Koreans and Chinese students too have been attacked but the focus is on Indian students because of a proactive media and a proactive Indian government. 
