Racism towards Indian students in Australia? Please.
Just days after the Australian arm of KFC was accused of being racially insensitive in a market the content was never intended to be aired in, an Indian newspaper has pushed the race boundaries between Australia and India.
On one hand there’s the annoyance over US basket case political correctness dictating what is and isn’t appropriate for screening here, and in the other the question of should we be offended when the same happens to us as a country.
The content in question came in the form of a cartoon and was published in Tuesday’s edition of Mail Today in Delhi.
Obviously the insinuation is that Victorian Police are deliberately stalling the case due to the fact the victim is Indian.
In the case of the recent Australian KFC ad, the connotation of African Americans and fried chicken is virtually non-existent in Australian society. Aboriginals here like fried chicken no more or less then the rest of the population.
Additionally the stereotype that exists in the US in direct relation to African Americans, yet the black people depicted in the ad feature as West Indies supporters.
Of course America being America and the world police of political correctness KFC Australia decided to pull the add and issue an apology.
What needs to be understood here is that in Australia the black people and fried chicken stereotype doesn’t exist. The context of the ad is that enough people like fried chicken here that it’s culturally acceptable to suggest KFC be used as an ice breaker between people.
Sure in reality it might sound a bit corny but in an advertising context nobody is going to bat an eyelid here over it.
The difference with the Indian cartoon is that it introduces racism symbology that is recognised globally. In comparing the the Victorian police to the KKK the author is basically suggesting that on a government level, Australia is racist towards Indians.
As much as I agree the attacks are racially motivated, it’s not like the government is sanctioning the attacks or committing them. The attacks are being carried out by the deadbeats of society, the same as most other crime that goes on.
As for accusing the police of stalling, admittedly I’m not familiar with the Indian legal system but it doesn’t strike me as a state where justice works at lightning speeds.
Investigations take time, especially over sensitive issues such as potentially racially motivated attacks. You don’t want to come out and announce that they are racially motivated and then have to retract it a few days later in light of new evidence.
Remembering though that it is a cartoon and often they are encouraged to push boundaries and insinuate what wouldn’t necessarily fly in a written article, we have to acknowledge that under the context of how Indians might feel, it’s a valid insinuation.
What we then as a country need to decide is whether we’re offended enough to do exactly what the US did to KFC Australia with their pressure to pull the television commercial.
The Indian cartoon was never intended for consumption outside of Australia and is aimed squarely at Indian audiences. Sure it’s in no way constructive and if I was a police officer directly working on the case I might even be a little bit offensive, but surely we can accept another country’s opinions on current events.
A cartoon is a cartoon and whether or not it’s making fun of racial stereotypes of a black president, drawing attention to suicide bombings and the prophet Muhammad or blindly criticising the Australian police force, they aren’t intended to be taken seriously.
As Australian’s we know that our police force aren’t treating crimes against Indians any differently then other crimes being committed. Infact I find it hilarious that countries with their long standing prejudices (Pakistan anyone?) attempt to drag us down to their level and project their own racial problems onto our society.
Part of the great thing about being Australian is a relatively high tolerance for things other countries and cultures have a hard time getting over. Especially when it comes to things of a racial nature.
Sure it wasn’t all that long ago we had the White Australia policy and what not but as far as modern Australia goes we’re a pretty relaxed bunch.
If we can’t maintain this indifference when it is thrown back at us, then what are we doing telling the US to shove their opinions of our media?
January 9th, 2010 at 11:45 am Leper(Quote)
The perceived lack of response by the police to these crimes comes from the difficulty in actually identifying the criminals. Even with an excellent description from the victim and some decent security camera footage, police still need to match up an anonymous face to the attacker. If the attacker isn’t already known to the police, then there’s very little they can do to find them. The real world isn’t like TV where they’d miraculously pull some DNA off the victim and run it through their crime-fighting databases. It’s just random street crime performed by random idiots and with no grand pattern to the crimes, it’s difficult for police to make any progress.
January 9th, 2010 at 12:09 pm James(Quote)
Just tell them to go and have a cup of tea with some Creole Cream biscuits, chill the fuck out and realise that this guys race makes him no more important than the many people of all sorts of races and nationalities that are murdered around the world regularly for many different reasons.
January 9th, 2010 at 12:31 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
That’s just it. I mean for a country of how many millions of people you’d think they’d understand this.
As for preventing the attacks, what are the police supposed to do? Provide a personal escort for every Indian student?
January 9th, 2010 at 10:55 pm Gypsy Owl(Quote)
What an excellent article. I totally agree with the writer. Why the f… can’t the Indians understand that it is just as normal in any other society and leave it alone? It is the idiots’ demonstrations and the Indian govt’s involvement in the issue which makes the matter far worse than it was!
January 12th, 2010 at 11:15 am Sebastian Caramanga(Quote)
It doesn’t matter how much the Arsies protest, the fact remains that:
1. They will be seen as racist savages by the rest of the world for a long, long time.
2. They will be seen as 30 years behind the developed world.
3. They will be seen as a redneck society with a high percentage of mental illness.
So protest all you like, you’ve shat in your own nest.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:24 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
…because stereotyping the entirety of Australia as white, redneck racist savages isn’t racist in itself right?
Just keep telling yourself only white people can be racist.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:34 pm boris(Quote)
I was on a railway platform in India a number of years ago when the police caught a pickpocket. They beat him savagely with bamboo poles until his arms were broken and he was crying like a baby.
I still consider India to be an amazing country and when asked which of the many places I’ve visited, I’d like to go back to, I usually say India. The scenery and culture are second to none and I will always remember the many fantastic people I met.
Unfortunately a few of the younger generation of Indians seem to have a huge chip on their shoulders. They may be their middle class parents precious offspring but that doesn’t cut much ice in a foreign country. Shortly after I arrived in Australia I copped a terrible hiding which broke my nose, jaw and teeth and which could have killed me, but I don’t consider myself the victim of a racial assault, rather I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffered the consequences.
A few of my countrymen have been murdered in Australia in the past few years, but the same has happened in the US, the UK and other places around the world. Unfortunately, whereever young men go and whatever they do, not all will make it back to Mum and Dad.
January 13th, 2010 at 6:12 pm Fred(Quote)
Ive said it before, as usual Australia will just take it up the arse for anyone who whinges at us.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:13 pm Jay(Quote)
Around 60% of violent crime in this country is committed by young men toward other young men.
Given that in the 18-24 age group the male Indian students outnumber the women nearly 3 to 1 it’s inevitable that they’re going to be over repesented as victims of crime.
Lefties and “respectable” conservatives like Bolt are hypocrites, everybody is the same to them until there’s a problem then all bets are off.
Young Indian men are no more or less likely to be involved in crime than any other group, they get drunk, they become aggressive, they have sexist and disrespectful attitudes toward women, they steal and rape and fight and kill people in road accidents…because they’re young men.
You know what behaving just like everyone else does? It makes you fair game in the eyes of hoodlums, because in the main they don’t discriminate.
January 22nd, 2010 at
[...] how about saving your own students first? Jan.22, 2010 in world Last week an Indian newspaper ran a cartoon suggesting that the Victorian Police were members of the Klu Klux [...]
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:37 pm Aaron Anderson(Quote)
http://ozsoapbox.com/world/racism-towards-indian-students-in-australia-please/comment-page-1/#comment-12240
It may well be true that the Police are faced with a very difficult task of identifying the attackers, but I think this whole media play of Indian people being physically attacked is clever distraction from some very humiliating treatment being meted out to ethnic Indians in workplaces around Australia.
Having cruel practical jokes played on them with “no evidence” of who the culprits are, being falsely accused of “sexual harrassment”–an accusation supposedly credible since Indian girls don’t f*** leaving their men sexually frustrated and inclined to “target” white Australians; having their workplace triumphs downplayed while their faults and mistakes held up to the light as “proof” of their incompetency … etc, etc, the list goes on and on and on.
And these are things the people responsible CAN do something about, but don’t. Indian people are not regarded as human, they’re regarded as Indians, just as Asian people are regarded as Asians, not human. (There was a great article on the radio illustrating what I’ve just said by a young Japanese Australian lady who, among other things, came across elderly Australian men who thought nothing of asking her out, something they’d never do to a White Australian of her age.)
Of course, India itself has these self-same attitudes against (for example) people of lower castes–but hey, we’re a modern, first world country—we run on logic, NOT on superstition. Their Police might beat a pick-pocket with bamboo sticks; shall we beat ours with rolled up newspapers and say, “hey we’re not as bad as the Indians?
Our economy should be driven forward by people being fairly rewarded, and a true market rate paid for their labour/talent/skills/knowledge…. But of course, too many dim-witted and under-educated Ozzies have forced themselves into drivers’ seats and are driving our fair-minded nation into mud.
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:16 am Aaron Anderson(Quote)
OH NO!!! It said my comment “is awaiting moderation”. There’s nothing to moderate.
You know “moderation” can be impossible. Imagine a discussion between Creationists and Evolutionists. Upon hearing both sides, the “moderator” decides on a “half-way” compromise, concluding for the audience that SOME animals were created, while OTHERS evolved as clearly shown by the evidence. I just hope “the Moderator” is not another individual whose wits have been dimmed.
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:03 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
I think any good blog has some form of moderation in place.
OzSoapbox is a one man operation so I use moderation to help keep the conversation going when I’m offline. For the most part discussion flows freely but there are several preset rules in place which might result in the odd comment being held until I approve it.
For the most part if you contribute to the discussion in some way I’m not subject to witholding commentary just because I don’t agree with it. You only have to look at some of the opinion articles on here to see evidence of this.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:19 pm Khyati(Quote)
I believe there are too many misunderstandings you have when Indians talk racism. I know culture in India changes every 100 Kms and differences in each race is Unaccountable,We don’t care about White or Black, coz we don’t have such difference when it comes to race.
But we have so many differences when it comes to our culture and so many issues in our country that as how you guys define Racism could be most seen in India, but we don’t see that coz that is not racism for us.
If its not clear when someone pointed out Racism it means Indian and other countrymen. We don’t expect police men with each Indian student, since we don’t feel any safer even in our home.
Some one who asked why Indian govt. is involved well it wasn’t when it came to first incident or next. It was handled mildly at a diplomatic level, but when incidents started to rage are you kidding me to stay uninvolved.
If its not race attacks then lets discuss why such an co incidence of attacks to people of the same race.
@boris ” I don’t consider myself the victim of a racial assault, rather I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffered the consequences”
Are you serious, how many such incidents have happened multiple? Are you a local or from certain specific country who look and act different?
You know how many people die in India every year? Check my comment on “Hey India how about saving your student first” another article here.
Do you think did Indians actually had a protest for Indians who died in some foreign terror attack and call it racism?
Come on who are you kidding with?
@Fred I am not sure about Australia but believe you me India will also take it up their arse coz we frankly cannot do anything either (It’s sad but true if this continues we would just complain.)
@ anderson Completely out of the topic but who says Indian women don’t f***. Which era are you living in. But your point “Their Police might beat a pick-pocket with bamboo sticks; shall we beat ours with rolled up newspapers and say, “hey we’re not as bad as the Indians” this is what exactly I am trying to explain in the comment in the next article.
And yea Indians do work on logic and your comparision with lower castes is so true but these are just groups of people from different sects or cultures i mentioned above. I don’t know if you guys can ever understand how much it affects.
Anyways the point is yea Indians do feel it as Racial because Indians only faced it. You think it would have been difficult for those attackers to find a local Australian guy comparatively,we all the know the answer for that.
Khyati
February 27th, 2010 at 5:41 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Uh, you are aware people get bashed and attacked every weekend right? Just head down to any Melbourne hospital ER room on a Friday or Saturday night.
And are you seriously suggesting that it’d be harder to find an Australian in Australia to bash then it would be to find an Indian?
You guys know Indians are a (large) minority here right?
March 5th, 2010 at 10:38 pm Khyati(Quote)
@OZSOAPBOX I guess you got this one wrong too.
It was clearly obvious from my statement that “It is NOT difficult to find some Random guy to be an Australian” on the basis of Probability also. And considering that fact picking up only Indians in the cases we are talking about is not Random. (What I meant)
Also, Bashing happens in all geographical parts of the world be it School, College, Church or Home. But do you seriously want me to believe that these series of cases should be taken as one of them.
March 5th, 2010 at 11:27 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Of course it’s not random because we’re discussing those particular cases. In doing so however you seem to have taken it upon yourself to discount any and all other bashings/muders that have/had occured in the areas during the time of these attacks.
It’s not like Indians are solely being targeted. Infact if anything I’d say they are under represented in Australian (Melbourne) crime statistics.
By far the largest group should be Australians (of any race). Yet we can accept crime against us has nothing to do with a racist police force or whatever.
So why can’t Indians?
By series you imply that it’s an ongoing thing possibly carried out by the same group of people. Unless you have proof of this on what grounds do you label the attacks as a series of events?
How can you discount the attacks weren’t completely random? People of all races are getting bashed/stabbed in Melbourne’s west every week.
May 17th, 2010 at 4:37 pm Matt(Quote)
Leave Indians alone their good Taxi Drivers!!!!