Indian man attacked and set alight in Melbourne

I posted this info in other thread:

I have read about many instances of such attacks. There seems to be lot of hate crimes in Australia such as in 2009 alone

Crimes against Indian students in 2009 included:

* "David", a 21 year old Indian student, was beaten unconscious in the Melbourne suburb of Glenroy on 4 May 2009. Four men had surrounded him, the one from behind smashing a bottle over his head before continuing to punch and kick him.[11]

* An Indian student was assaulted and robbed by a gang on a train while traveling to his home in Werribee in Melbourne's western suburbs in May 2009. He said his attackers asked "Why the f--- did you come here?"[12]

* A 25 year old student was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver in May 2009 while he was partying with three other Indian students.[13]

* An Indian graduate living in the Sydney suburb of Harris Park, had a petrol bomb thrown through his bedroom window on 24 May 2009. He received burns to 30 percent of his body and the blaze was extinguished by his Indian housemates. One housemate said that they had no enemies and he did not know the reason for the attack. The housemate also said that the area was not safe, and that he knew neighbours who had been robbed.[14]

* A 25 year old Indian student was stabbed in the abdomen near Carnegie railway station in Melbourne on 25 May. One of his two attackers laughed during the assault.[15]

* A student was badly beaten by a group of fifteen people on Chapel Street, Prahran, Victoria on 30 May.[16]

* On 2 June, a 21 year old Indian student was slashed across the chest with a box-cutter knife in Frankston. The incident occurred a day after a Sikh temple in Shepparton was vandalised.[17]

* On 8 June, Indians were attacked in Harris Park, allegedly by a group of Lebanese men, which sparked a street protest.[18] The local police superintendent said there was no suggestion that these incidents were racially motivated.[19]

* On 8 June, a 23 year old man was beaten unconscious while walking home from the St Albans train station. In the suburb of Springvale, an Indian student's car was torched.[20]

* On 11 June, a 22 year old old Indian student was assaulted in Rundle Mall in Adelaide. The fight, which resulted in the student's nose being broken, began when the attacker struck at his turban.[21]

* On 13 June, a 24 year old man was attacked by three people in Melbourne as he was about to enter his car. He was punched directly in the face by one while another hit him over the head from behind rendering him unconscious. He reported that they stole his mobile phone, wallet and car keys.[22]

* On 15 June, a 20 year old man was attacked by two men as he was entering his car in Boronia. He claims the men slammed the car door on his hand, punched him in the head and stomach, then racially abused him, calling him a "----ing Indian c---". He also identified one man as white and one appearing to be of African descent.[23]

* On 29 June, a 22 year old Sikh man was attacked when a group of six teenagers tried to remove his turban and cut off his hair. Two of the attackers were later arrested by Victorian police.[24]

en.wikipedia.org...

Now if you know anything about Sikhs, even touching their turban is considered a grave insult and dont even talk about cutting the hair.

Earlier they seemed to random attacks but now it has emerged that many of them are racially motivated attacks.

There was also a huge protest few months ago by Indian students there











Thousands protest against Indian student attacks

Indian students protest in Australia

Some videos

reply to post by riley

www.abc.net.au...
An Indian man is in hospital after being set on fire in the street in Melbourne early this morning.

Jaspreet Singh, 29, was attacked in Essendon in Melbourne's north-west shortly before 2.00am (AEDT).

He had just come home from a dinner party with his wife and went to park his car when four men poured fluid over him and set him alight.

He is in a stable condition in the Alfred Hospital with burns to 20 per cent of his body.

Victorian Minister Peter Batchelor says the incident is concerning.

"Whether it is racially motivated or whether is is for some other reason such as theft or some other crime related factor, it diminishes our community, it diminishes us all and we're totally opposed to it," he said.

"We want the police to thoroughly investigate this to get to the bottom of it."

Police say the strange circumstances surrounding the attack have led them to believe it was not racially motivated.

Detective acting senior sergeant Neil Smyth says police are yet to locate burnt clothing the victim discarded shortly after the incident.

He says police have a general description of who the offenders could be.

"I believe there is no reason at this stage to consider this in any way as racially motivated... the circumstances of him parking the car randomly in a side street and just some people approaching him are a bit strange," he said.

Why on earth would the victim discard evidence and undermind his own case? Surely if he chucked it in the bin police could go find it easy enough? The article says he got home and went to park the car yet it also says he parked the car randomly in a side street? It is being implied it was a race attack yet the story is inconsistent.. and no-where does it mention the damage to his car. They have ommited alot in this article.. including discriptions of his assailents. I doubt that would be "an ongoing investigation" thing as they give the victims name.

Interesting..

So the question is: Were his attackers aussie and white? Indian press will presume they were anyway..

[edit on 9-1-2010 by riley]

reply to post by grantbeed

I'm guessing it's mostly young folks causing the problems.

In Fairbanks and Anchorage there were/are similar attacks on what we call our "Native" population, ie. Indian and Eskimo people. These attacks were more common 4 to 5 years ago and have died down. Apparently it was a local youth problem that has been resolved. But for some reason it was "cool" to pick on them esp. if homeless, drunk or down and out. Pretty disgusting to all of us but nevertheless what we had to deal with for a while.

Public awareness was what it took to reverse the situation here. Good luck down under!

I'm rather appalled by the recent, and regular, attacks on Indian students - and the community - in Australia.

Many commentators in the media and think tanks study American race relations, but Australian attitudes towards race are much more, erm, tribal (if I can use that word?) and hostile. Believe it or not, Australia, collectively, is more sensitive to race than the United States.

No,what we are appalled about is shrills,that know nothing about the crimes or the people of Australia who instantly label our good country as a bunch of slathering and xenophobic "skippys"

Please use your god given brains,and think hard before using a wide brush to tar us all.

thnx.

2 sides to every story.
We get the media reporting about apparent race attacks, rather than attacks on a student, there is no evidence it is about race or even gender for that matter.

The media throw the bone and the scavangers fight over the scraps

Originally posted by grantbeed
I think it's a hard one to call for the media. they're damned if they do and damned if they don't so to speak.

The media is responsible for fuelling these feelings. People of India see these stories and reach the conclusion that Australians are racist and any Indians living in Australia should feel threatened. This creates distrust between the average Aussie and Indian and sours the relationship between the two countries.

Although these tactics are nothing new, they are exploiting a tragic story by showing Australians in the worst possible light and Indians as the helpless victims. What made you think this was a hate crime? Did it have something to do with the way it was presented to you in the news?

I mean the victims name will be in the Newspapers anyway, so there is no hiding the fact he was a coloured man.

with all the racist violence these days, it would not surprise me one bit if it was because he was Indian.

Why does the fact that victim was Indian have to be such a key part of the story? Why is it highlighted and emphasised that a group of Australians ganged up on and beat an Indian man for no apparent reason other than his skin colour or nationality? Do you know anyone that would do this?

One thing i have noticed in Australia and New Zealand - people are so cut off from civilisation over here, they can be very racist and very narrow minded. It's always going to be a problem...period

Cut off from civilisation...what is that supposed to mean exactly?

The sooner we start to realize that we are humans,and not a geopolitical pawn of those fat turds (who,are incidentally sitting back and laughing their heads off at us.), the better.

Australia has been multicultural for decades. It is what makes this country full of amazing diversity, the greatest food choices, many taxi and train drivers who get us home safely, fantastic markets, and the many cultural experiences that enrich our nation . As a white Australian with ancestory dating back to convict days, may I remind everyone that apart from our indigenous Australians, we are all of foreign ancestory. We all have similarities and differences with the Indian people but also with everyone in the world. We are all human.

It is disgusting to see the violence in Melbourne. It used to be a safe and accepting place by the most part. As others have posted, don't judge the whole because of the fear and anger held by the few.

reply to post by Dark Ghost


Well said.

Like any western country Ausralia has it's share of violent crime, and unfortunately the media focuses almost entirely on the Indian side of it because it is flavour of the month. I guarantee you there are far more people becoming the victims of violent crime than these Indians; unfortunately it is all too common and the only cases that stand out through either brutality, randomness or race (in these cases) and actually get reported.

When this exploded last year it was another minority group at the heart of the problem that seems to be involved with a number of problems of this nature.

[edit on 9/1/10 by Shere Khaan]

Cut off from civilisation...what is that supposed to mean exactly?

It means australia and new zealand are geographically distant from europe and the USA. Many people have never been outside their homeland and can not afford to travel.

this leads to many people here having quite a narrow minded opinion on lots of things, and immigration and race are part and parcel of this.

I've seen it first hand many many times. We have got lots of Filipino workers at our factory, they arrived about 2 yrs ago, and many New Zealand guys have still not accepted their presence even today.

they will not speak to them, will not train them and are 100% racist towards them.

Yet , funnily enough, all the New Zealand people who have actually got their Asses out of New Zealand and travelled (further than across the ditch to ozzy) are superb with these Filipinos..........

Now is'nt that a coincidence?

Why does the fact that victim was Indian have to be such a key part of the story? Why is it highlighted and emphasised that a group of Australians ganged up on and beat an Indian man for no apparent reason other than his skin colour or nationality?

Why is it key? It is key because Australia promotes their country as being a peaceful, friendly place that outsiders are welcome to come and live in if they have the jobskills. So it is appauling that any visitor, from any country should have to be subjected to this.

reply to post by zenius


yes, australia has been multicultural for decades........so what has changed??

IMHO it is parenting skills.....PERIOD.

we have a generation of DickHeads out there. all over the place, not just Australia

Originally posted by grantbeed

Why is it key? It is key because Australia promotes their country as being a peaceful, friendly place that outsiders are welcome to come and live in if they have the jobskills. So it is appauling that any visitor, from any country should have to be subjected to this.

I'm sorry to say this, but you will get this going to any country no matter where you are from. I have been the subject of racism in Asia and seen Asians the victim of racism in Australia. Americans get racism everywhere which is why they must stay at home more.

If you travel you get used to passive and active racism. I used to take it personally but it is an unfortunate negative aspect to human nature endemic to the entire world. Sad, but true.

[edit on 9/1/10 by Shere Khaan]

Disgusting.
No other word for it.

I say bring back capital punishment.. but i believe it does more harm than good!

What do we need to do to get our youth back on the proper path?

This isnt anything less than a racist attack.

Originally posted by Dark Ghost

One thing i have noticed in Australia and New Zealand - people are so cut off from civilisation over here, they can be very racist and very narrow minded. It's always going to be a problem...period

Cut off from civilisation...what is that supposed to mean exactly?

Ug Ug.

Good point Dark Ghost. I'm an aussie but sometimes I get access to the internet if I walk three days through bushland.. it's a bit quicker if I saddle a kangaroo. We only have one computer to share though.. and thats for the whole town! our kids have to use text books from the 1800s.

Its only to be expected being cut off from all those "civilised" people that is.

As for New Zealanders. "baaaa!"

(Yeah I'm being racist with the sheep joke but I don't know any better apparently... )


Grantbreed.. you cannot label two entire populations racist without being racist yourself. Hypocricey doesn't give you a higher ground to fling poo from.

[edit on 9-1-2010 by riley]

reply to post by Shere Khaan


I agree 100%. It's everywhere.

I've lived in Scotland where people shout racist chants at football games, I've lived in Canada and heard Racist stories about the Natives, i've lived in Holland and heard the Dutch call the Morrocans "Sand Niggers", i've lived in australia and heard of all the racist violence there, and i've lived in New Zealand and experience it first hand every working day.

It is everywhere and I don't think australia is worse than anywhere else, but it is there.

I will also add that by posting above links showing racism does not mean India does not have racism. It does has lot of racism problem as well. But it does not contradict that racism is alive and breeding in Australia too.

reply to post by riley

you cannot label two entire populations racist without being racist yourself

No, you misread me. I never labelled any "ENTIRE POPULATION". Try reading my posts again.

Racist?......certainly not. I've worked alongside, Iranians, Iraqi's, Morrocans, Turks, Greeks, Dutch, English, Canadians, australians, New Zealanders, Samoans, Vietnamese, Maoris, Filipinos......

and I get on with them all great. They are all my brothers and I respect them as much as my own Countrymen.

Is the media forgetting the amount of racial tension between the indian and the middle eastern gangs who run riot here in australia.

I live in a part of sydney that is swamped with middle eastern culture. Ive walked to the shops not far from my house and time and time again isee the degregation that goes on between the two cultures, I used to have a problem when i first got here with a lebonese gang, but Scuba managed to sort that out.

All im saying is that i believe that the media is steering this toward a caucasian situation, rather than spreading the facts, which in turn gets broadcast overseas, and is then perceived as race/hate against the ausse folk.

I have no problems where ever i go, i feel very safe, but then again , maybe thats just my nature.

To the media:

as a great ATS members signature says;

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please !!

[edit on 9/1/2010 by scubagravy]