On 5th March 2010 Australian Prime Minister’s reaction on the murder of the toddler of Indian origin was immediate and sincere.
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“The death of any little child causes everyone in this country to stop, pause, think, reflect. If this is a case of murder, there is nothing worse than the brutal murder of a little child. The authorities are investigating it and we have every confidence the authorities will get to the bottom of it,” he said. (Link)
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With coverage of the tod’s death, even Indian media stuck to the basics and relied to on the feeds by the PTI. Thank God. (Must add that only one TV channel (no prizes for guessing) still attempted a little twist referring to the Aussie reaction as “Nervous” in actual quotes). However, overall, media in Australia and India reported in sync with the facts. The role of the Indian Government and of the Consul General Nayar remained commendable. Another plus was the focus on FIAV and not FISA. Spokesman/founder/secretary/owner of FISA only showed up on one TV channel (no prizes again). City Counselor of the locality where the incident occurred is Tim Singh Lawrence, of an Indian origin, whom I have interacted with in my last visit and have also commented in an earlier blog, was quoted extensively.
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Now, as I pen this blog, news is breaking in that charges have been laid by the police and it appears that it was indeed an “insider job” that look the little one’s life. No racial or any other dimension to the story. Like almost all other Indian deaths in OZ over last two years, this one too is a case of an Indian taking an Indian’s life while we all were tending to suspect a white hand. In an earlier blog titled INDIANS ARE INDEED BEING SINGLED OUT, I had detailed my finding that of the last 15 or so Indian deaths in Australia, surprising to many, an overwhelming majority of deaths had been committed by Indians themselves. If we add to this the fact that Jasbir is not the only exceptional case of an Indian shouting “racism” over a fake attack in hope for insurance claims, I feel really ashamed today for the act of some holding a similar passport as mine. In this case, just click this link to get the full news as I just donot feel like even detailing it. An Indian student on a fake passport …. and another Indian murdered by an Indian.
Yes, ashamed I am and am sure many other Indians origin residents in Australia also share this emotion. We ran to the media each time prompted by one fake “student” leader with garbled history and statistics. The media in turn hyped it up testing the relationship between the two friendly countries. Ashamed I am, because of the conduct of the new Indian entrants into Australia, who in the garb of a student is actually mostly an illegal migrant, often working full time in risky jobs when they should actually be studying? Ashamed I am, that the Indian leadership in OZ is divided and missing even right now. Melbourne is only slightly better while Sydney Indians have recently been fighting over organizing of festivals and have still locked themselves into groups based on their castes and regions in India. Some are alleged to be making money from sponsorship commissions and contracts.
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I am not in anyway undermining the importance of a need for better law and order and check on street crimes in large cities at all. Cities around the world need better security and Melbourne is no exception.
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This blog is just trying to break the stereotyping that has developed around Australians and Indians.
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The conduct of recent Indians also risks other Indians. Visas have become tighter for genuine students. India continues at risk assessment level 4 along with only a few other countries such as Nigeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The entire system of AL is faulty and disadvantages genuine students due to acts of frauds. Majority of Indian migrants into Australia over the last 15 years have been largely professionals including Doctors, Accountants, IT professionals and Engineers and they are also feeling the branding of Indians due to the risqué behaviour of the recent Indians. Generalisations don’t help anyone and it is time for Australia to reconsider the full system of setting norms based on Assessment Levels especially for a huge country like India with non-uniformity with intentions, aspirations and track record.
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When will a real Indian leadership emerge in Australia that helps the rebuilding process?
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Indians in Australia too need to
stop, pause, think and reflect.
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That brings me to the part 2 of this blog where I share the crusade of two Ozzie Indians. These caught my attention and will help break the stereotype.
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MY NAME IS KHAN SINGH … AND I AM NOT A TERRORIST THUG.
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The movie MNIK has given a strong message that not all Muslims are terrorists and I innovate the message to MNIS indicating that not all Indians are Thugs.
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By the way, before I forget, did you know that an Ozzie Indian made her bollywood debut in MNIK. Pallavi Sharda, (daughter of a friend, Dr Hema Sharda, from University of Western Australia and a resident of Melbourne, Victoria) is a student of law at University of Melbourne. In MNIK she is the beautiful muslim girl who travels in the bus with SRK and offers him food. Pallavi has a website www.pallavisharda.com and has just completed another movie DUS TOLA with Manoj Bajpai. My sincere best wishes to this beautiful Ozzie Indian. She has a long way to go and has only just begun. Pallavi, be careful in Mumbai as it is not Melbourne. Its far unsafer.
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NOW, getting back to the two examples that shout out that NOT ALL SINGHS ARE THUGS. (I could have added my own example but then… ladies first!)
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NDTV has recently awarded Aradhana Gupta as Extraordinary Indian of the Year, for her crusade against injustice to her friend Ruchika Girothra;
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Aradhna, who lives in Sydney with her husband and children, has been teaching Indian culture.
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She said Rathore’s conviction gave her a renewed feeling of empowerment inspiring her to launch a new battle for hundreds of such Ruchikas in the society who must be waiting desperately for someone to rescue them.
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“What better occasion than Valentine’s Day to commence my next battle,” she said, launching the site at her home in Panchkula. She said she would rededicate herself to a social campaign against child abuse. The website is a platform where people from all walks of society can come together to create awareness, educate and eventually help prevent child abuse.
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Every Indian is proud of the campaign that Aradhna carried out over many years and this required her to travel repeatedly from Sydney to Chandigarh.
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While what Archana achieved is known to all of us thanks to the media and we have all toasted her for her act, there are many other Indians who have put in their best foot forward to bring peace in “charged up” Melbourne.
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A few months ago, I met with Divya Sharma, a PhD student then at RMIT Melbourne and a girl from Chandigarh. Let me quote from TOI Group’s Kolkata Mirror about the Diwali event that she was organizing last year to bring the communities together in harmony:
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“Australians that I meet are aware of Bollywood. They love the movies and dances and yes, they will be in Indian outfits,” says Divya, who admits that it will be “interesting” to teach the students how to dance Bollywood style.
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Multicultural events are seen as a way to help the Australian and newly arrived Indian students better understand each other’s community.
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“I wanted to send a message that everything was okay after the attacks on students, so the theme of this year’s celebrations will be Sabh kuch thik thak hai. We wanted people to know that things are fine here,” she says.
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Academicians, educators and students, including Indian students, are planning to put behind the unfortunate trail of incidents, by organising a fiesta of music around Diwali to send the message that everything is fine here. And the person behind the concept and organisation of the show is a Chandigarh girl Divya Sharma..
“We plan to put up the show, including a fashion show with music from Bollywood movies, around Diwali in an our endeavor to bring to an end the unsavory chapter that sent wrong signals worldwide,” says Divya who is pursuing her doctorate at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).
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Everything is fine here, she says revealing that many locals join her classes in the Art of Living. She expects Sri Sri Ravi here in December to address a World Parliament of Religions as a key speaker,
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Divya, who is an Art of Living trainer, says that ever since she came here several years ago, she has never faced any problem. “Instead some of the locals have been going out of way to help international students in general and Indians in particular.”
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Khan’s (Aamir) ALL IS WELL translates to
Singh’s (Divya) SUB KUCH THIK THAK HAI
Ozzie Indians need to chant
AAL IZZ WELL OR SUB KUCH THIK THAK HAI
Certainly STOP, PAUSE, THINK AND REFLECT.
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