Of late I saw a lot of hungama on television over the racist attacks on Indians in Australia. Being a prospective student myself, I thought I will blog it.
On the face of it, most of the attacks appear to be straight forward mugging and not racial abuse. But to put the record straight, there have been some cases of racial abuse. After all what else will you call hooligans targeting only Indian passengers in a public transport facility? Leaving aside mugging, racial abuse is something that needs serious thought. Lets face it. People of late, in the thick of recession are learning to hate Indians. But why?
From my own experience, I can say that the problem lies with the way we Indians live in a Phoren country. We crave for Indian food often detesting phoren food, we are obsessed with Bollywood and embrace the Khan movies released in Gujarati theaters with gusto, we socialise only with Indians and prefer only Indian friends even for Kids and so on. What I want to indicate here is that we try to safeguard the Indianness in us and try to Indianize others . We build a small India replete with our gods and temples around us and don't try to move beyond it. There is very little or no effort on our part to integrate into the culture of the society we live. What we ought to do is to involve ourselves more with the non-Desi's and integrate into their society. That way can help mitigate the "Us Vs them" divide.
On the other hand, the natives, in this case the Australians too could help. Violence against anyone ought to be condemned openly and vociferously. Government, should provide a safe environment for students and other working professionals and punish those hoodlums who attack innocents. I was shocked at the apathy of the passengers when two of the Indians aboard the bus were being attacked. I think as a civilised society we can do better than sit and watch.
A word about Media here
PM Manmohan Singh has talked to his counterpart in Australia who in turn promised quick action against the perpetrators. Mr. Rudd even promised additional security. The Australian police are trying to nab the culprits and its only a matter of time before things settle down. In the mean time, why should we resort to mudslinging and finger pointing? Why should we call all Australians racists and aggravate the issue? Why play Andrew Symonds issue and stir up hate against Australians? Is it not sensationalising news at its best? Its time Press get their act together and start reporting things that matter. After all, thousands of cases of theft, robbery and hooliganism happen every day in India. Why can they pull up the Indian administration for that? They don't do it because it is a every day happening and it doesn't create a sensation. I say, press should only report news. Not create it.
On the face of it, most of the attacks appear to be straight forward mugging and not racial abuse. But to put the record straight, there have been some cases of racial abuse. After all what else will you call hooligans targeting only Indian passengers in a public transport facility? Leaving aside mugging, racial abuse is something that needs serious thought. Lets face it. People of late, in the thick of recession are learning to hate Indians. But why?
From my own experience, I can say that the problem lies with the way we Indians live in a Phoren country. We crave for Indian food often detesting phoren food, we are obsessed with Bollywood and embrace the Khan movies released in Gujarati theaters with gusto, we socialise only with Indians and prefer only Indian friends even for Kids and so on. What I want to indicate here is that we try to safeguard the Indianness in us and try to Indianize others . We build a small India replete with our gods and temples around us and don't try to move beyond it. There is very little or no effort on our part to integrate into the culture of the society we live. What we ought to do is to involve ourselves more with the non-Desi's and integrate into their society. That way can help mitigate the "Us Vs them" divide.
On the other hand, the natives, in this case the Australians too could help. Violence against anyone ought to be condemned openly and vociferously. Government, should provide a safe environment for students and other working professionals and punish those hoodlums who attack innocents. I was shocked at the apathy of the passengers when two of the Indians aboard the bus were being attacked. I think as a civilised society we can do better than sit and watch.
A word about Media here
PM Manmohan Singh has talked to his counterpart in Australia who in turn promised quick action against the perpetrators. Mr. Rudd even promised additional security. The Australian police are trying to nab the culprits and its only a matter of time before things settle down. In the mean time, why should we resort to mudslinging and finger pointing? Why should we call all Australians racists and aggravate the issue? Why play Andrew Symonds issue and stir up hate against Australians? Is it not sensationalising news at its best? Its time Press get their act together and start reporting things that matter. After all, thousands of cases of theft, robbery and hooliganism happen every day in India. Why can they pull up the Indian administration for that? They don't do it because it is a every day happening and it doesn't create a sensation. I say, press should only report news. Not create it.
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