Attacks on Indians not racist, claims Australia
Source: Agencies |
January 6, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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AUSTRALIA'S government said yesterday there was no evidence of a racial motive behind a series of attacks on Indian students, including the killing of an Indian graduate that threatens a diplomatic rift with New Delhi.
Accounting graduate Nitin Garg, 21, from Punjab state in northern India, was stabbed to death on Saturday night on his way to a job at a fast food outlet in Melbourne.
"What we have to do is to let the investigations take their course, but certainly on the basis of what we're being told so far, by the Victorian authorities, there's no basis for a racial motivation behind this," said Acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean.
The latest incident follows a series of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney in 2009.
Indian media have labelled attacks on Indian students in Australia as racist, but police and the government have said they are purely criminal.
Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna issued a statement condemning the "brutal attack." Krishna hinted at possible sanctions targeting Australia's lucrative foreign student market, but said he hoped that would not be necessary. About 4,000 Indian students have already canceled plans to study in Australia.
The international student sector is Australia's third largest export earner, behind coal and iron ore, worth A$13 billion (US$11.86 billion) in 2007-08.
Police in Victoria state, where Garg was killed, appealed for help yesterday as they searched for new evidence pointing to his killer.
In neighboring New South Wales state, police also confirmed that a partially burned body found by a road last week belonged to another Indian national.
Accounting graduate Nitin Garg, 21, from Punjab state in northern India, was stabbed to death on Saturday night on his way to a job at a fast food outlet in Melbourne.
"What we have to do is to let the investigations take their course, but certainly on the basis of what we're being told so far, by the Victorian authorities, there's no basis for a racial motivation behind this," said Acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean.
The latest incident follows a series of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney in 2009.
Indian media have labelled attacks on Indian students in Australia as racist, but police and the government have said they are purely criminal.
Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna issued a statement condemning the "brutal attack." Krishna hinted at possible sanctions targeting Australia's lucrative foreign student market, but said he hoped that would not be necessary. About 4,000 Indian students have already canceled plans to study in Australia.
The international student sector is Australia's third largest export earner, behind coal and iron ore, worth A$13 billion (US$11.86 billion) in 2007-08.
Police in Victoria state, where Garg was killed, appealed for help yesterday as they searched for new evidence pointing to his killer.
In neighboring New South Wales state, police also confirmed that a partially burned body found by a road last week belonged to another Indian national.
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