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Attacks on Indians must stop

IN his article “Terror down under” (Perspective, June 7), Dinesh Kumar has aptly described reasons behind the attacks on Indian students in Australia. It is a must-read article for every prospective student and their parents. Students should plan meticulously before they leave India to come down under. They should not depend solely on the information provided by the agents.

Opportunistic proactive advertisements of Australian institutions across India won’t help us in any way. Australia is exporting education at a hefty price and therefore a source of huge foreign income to it. It has also become a financial imperative for Australian institutions during global meltdown.

Australia is not a racist country as stated in the article. It promotes its multicultural image, but not racism. People by and large are humble and easy to interact with though they have their preferences due to their varied socio-cultural backgrounds.

The Australian authorities should deal sternly with the perpetrators of these crimes.

Dr SANJIV GUPTA, Gracechurch Crescent Perth (Australia)

The writer has attributed the main reason to the deception and exploitation of the gullible Indian youth by the recruiting agents of Australia-based private technical education institutions that pay to such agents up to 25 per cent of the hefty course fee as commission. The Indian students have been targeted earlier too but most of them have gone unreported. Recent racism-fuelled attacks are as much the result of opportunism as the visible and vulnerability of Indian students who work overtime to save on money is the cause.

Admittedly, “the police in Melbourne has neither demonstrated the compassionate sensitivity that is expected of the keepers of the law nor the scientific and clinical precision in crime-solving that is expected of a professional police force.” The need of the hour is to immediately stop such barbaric acts and save innocent lives.

TRISHLA GARG, Panchkula

Fight against domestic violence
Unsafe at home” (Spectrum, May 24) is a step forward to expose the ugly face of domestic violence in India and to sensitise society about increasing incidents of domestic violence. According to the National Family Health Survey-3, one in three married women in India faces spousal violence. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act has given women legal recourse but in our largely patriarchal society, its utility to curb domestic violence is sub-optimal.
The multimedia “Bell Bajao” campaign launched by the international human rights organisation Breakthrough, aims to convey a simple message: it is always wrong to ignore domestic violence. So walk up and ring that doorbell. Any excuse will do for showing up at the door. A ‘Bell Bajao’ mobile van has also hit the road in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka and other states. As a result, more and more women are coming forward to demand their rights.
Social awareness should be created to encourage all girls to enroll for self-defence courses; the mother-in-law syndrome needs some tackling. Economic independence will provide women security and increase their self-esteem so that they can exercise the option to walk away from abusive partners. Awareness also needs to be created among parents who often coerce daughters to return to abusive relationships, fearing social stigma. Our ideas of the place of women in society and expectations of them need to change.
Dr VITULL K. GUPTA, Bathinda

III

Why are Indian students being selectively targeted? Let’s hope for a speedy solution with the establishment of a task force ensuring the safety of Indian students in Australia as stated by John McCarthy, Australian High Commissioner to India. Today after facing such unfortunate happenings to their children, parents within India also need to curtail the trend of obtaining overseas study tag for their children in future.n

HARPREET SANDHU, Ludhiana