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we all know about Indian students being victims of the recent
Australianattacks. news channels as we know magnified the issue and
amplified it into a global controversy. through out the month june
there were in depth analysis in every news channel. there were
number of headlines buzzing through our cables and web pages like
“three more attacks on Indian in the past fortnight “,”racist element
in some of the attacks”,”Oz scams deal with elements of racism” but now
a very impending question arises….”did we kindle the attacks
indirectly?”

i don’t expect you to know about  each and every attack that took place
but i just want you to know the gravity of what was happening. these
are some of the attacks that took place:

“David”, a 21 year old Indian student, was beaten unconscious in the
Melbourne suburb of Glenroy on 4 May 2009. Four men had surrounded
him, the one from behind smashing a bottle over his head before
continuing to punch and kick him.
Sourabh Sharma was assaulted and robbed by a gang on a train while
travelling to his home in Werribee in Melbourne’s western suburbs in
May 2009. Sharma said his attackers asked “Why the f— did you come
here?”
Shravan Kumar, a 25 year old student, was stabbed in the head with a
screwdriver in May 2009 while he was partying with three other Indian
students.
Rajesh Kumar, an Indian graduate living in the Sydney suburb of Harris
Park, had a petrol bomb thrown through his bedroom window on 24 May
2009. Kumar received burns to 30 percent of his body and the blaze was
extinguished by his Indian housemates. One housemate, Arminder Singh,
said that they had no enemies and he did not know the reason for the
attack. Singh also said that the area was not safe, and that he knew
neighbours who had been robbed.
Baljinder Singh, a 25 year old Indian student, was stabbed in the
abdomen near Carnegie railway station in Melbourne on 25 May. One of
his two attackers laughed during the assault.
Ashish Sood was badly beaten by a group of fifteen people on Chapel
Street, Prahran, Victoria on 30 May.
On 2 June, Nardeep Singh a 21 year old Indian student was slashed
across the chest with a box-cutter knife in Frankston. The incident
occurred a day after a Sikh temple in Shepparton was vandalised.
On 8 June, Indians were attacked in Harris Park, allegedly by a group
of Lebanese men, which sparked a street protest. The local police
superintendent said there was no suggestion that these incidents were
racially motivated.
On 8 June, 23 year old Kamal Jit was beaten unconscious while walking
home from the St Albans train station. In the suburb of Springvale, an
Indian student’s car was torched.
On 11 June, a 22 year old old Indian student was assaulted in Rundle
Mall in Adelaide. The fight, which resulted in the students nose being
broken, began when the attacker struck at his turban.
On 13 June, 24 year old Hardik Bipinbhai Patel was attacked by three
people in Melbourne as he was about to enter his car. He was punched
directly in the face by one while another hit him over the head from
behind rendering him unconscious. He reported that they stole his
mobile phone, wallet and car keys.
On 15 June, 20 year old Sunny Bajaj was attacked by two men as he was
entering his car in Boronia. Bajaj claims the men slammed the car door
on his hand, punched him in the head and stomach, then racially abused
him, calling him a “—-ing Indian c—“. He also identified one man
as white and one appearing to be of African descent.
On 29th June, a 22 year old Sikh man was attacked when a group of six
teenagers tried to remove his turban and cut off his hair. Two of the
attackers were later arrested by Victorian police

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we were mesmerized by the Indian media into believing that the attacks were associated with heavy “racial”
elements rather than mere “opportunistic” elements . we were
completely forced to believe that what was happening was a direct
issue  targeting those racial aspects. there were and are huge
uproars from India defining the issue to be ‘barbaric’ but what we
were unable to realize was the fact that our behavior and our
reflection on the issue was a source of  a funny dramatic material
with mock dignity for the Australian civilians responsible for the
assaults.they were amused at our frantic reactions is what i believe.
if you remember properly on 8th July 2009. there was an other attack on Indian but this time in south africa. in spite of the fact that the victim died,there were unambiguous voices from the Indian inhabitants there that there are no racial strings attached to the incident.the country said,”It is unfortunate that sections of the Indian media are insinuating racial motives in this incident” and Indian media had no go except to keep their mouths shut on this issue. and what was the result? there hasn’t been a single attack in south africa ever since.

i agree if someone says that the way i looked at the issue is wrong but what am trying to stress here is the fact that if am atleast 1% right, we were,without a doubt responsible for some or the other attack there in australia and that is what grieves me.through out the pages of our history we have seen the strength of public opinion in different issues. but this issue is a clear example where we see what is going to happen if public opinion works in the wrong way. i’l do my part to redefine public opinion in its original sense by believing what ‘I‘ believe rather than going with the media or anyone who has a tendency to mislead the concept.i hope you’ll agree with me and join hands to make sure such incidents dont repeat in the days to come.