Oz attacks on Indians rose after police operation called off: FISA

Meenakshi Sinha, TNN
4 January 2010
Source: www.timesofindia.com
 
NEW DELHI: Nitin Garg's murder in Melbourne last Saturday wasn't an isolated incident. Assaults on Indian students in Australia have increased in the last two-three weeks since a special police operation launched to secure the physical safety of students in August last year was withdrawn in December 2009.
"Since this operation was launched following external affairs minister S M Krishna's visit to Melbourne, the attacks against students had gone down by 15-20%. The operation entailed extra police force in different areas and vigorous vigilance. But the operation's withdrawal has led to increase in attacks," says Gautam Gupta secretary, Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA) over phone from Melbourne.
Gupta has been getting many calls from concerned parents in India who have their wards studying Down Under. "In the last two days I've been getting many calls from parents especially from Delhi asking what they can do to help. One even suggested a day of prayer to ease the tension. I told them go ahead if it gives you peace of mind," he says.
Rajneesh Kapoor's son Aditya is a final year information technology student at BIT Melbourne. The 49-year-old from Delhi's Pitampura was extremely disturbed after coming to know about the attack on Nitin and has asked his son to take precautions and not venture out in the night. "These attacks have dissuaded many kids from going to Australia. But those who are already there have no option but to be careful. The Australian government is not doing enough to provide security to students despite getting huge amounts of money from them. It's their duty to see that they are safe," he said.
In Melbourne, there is also anger among Indian students over the Saturday night attack, which led to Nitin's death. "Many have volunteered to work for FISA to build a strong support group," says Gupta.
"These students, mostly in their early Twenties, want to help assault victims by offering medical and legal aid. They also want to become sounding boards for young students to vent their insecurity and frustration over the attacks," says Gupta, who feels these young students need a mentor.
Gupta also wants cricketing icon Shane Warne to come forward in a pro-active manner to denounce the attacks. "Since Shane understands Indian culture and has millions of fans in both countries, he can act as a bridge. He can educate Australians about Indians who are basically peace-loving people. His saying so in a campaign will have a positive impact," says Gupta.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, they are waiting for Nitin's cousin to arrive to hand over the body. Nitin, 21, lived with five friends in Newport, Melbourne. He was stabbed to death by unidentified attackers in a park on Saturday night on way to work at Hungry Jacks restaurant. He wasn't even supposed to be there. It was his day off. "But fate had other plans. He was informed that he could work an extra shift for which Nitin left at 9 pm, and by 10 pm his friends were informed of the attack. They rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where the doctor told them that he was critical," says Gupta.
Sandeep Sandhu, who lived with Nitin, who'd migrated from Punjab and had got permanent residency, is still in shock and denial. "At the moment we don't want to speak. We haven't slept for the last two days," is all he mumbles before disconnecting the phone.
According to Gupta, Nitin's friends told him that they've lost a family member. "Nitin had plenty of friends. On his birthday last September, at least 70 friends came over to party. They showed photographs of the party to me where the icing from the cake was still stuck on their roof," says Gupta.