Former Oz-Indian victim calls recent incidents ’street violence’ not ‘racial attacks’

September 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a bid to woo students to Australia amid reports of racial attacks down under, Premier of Australian state of Victoria John Brumby Friday said it will give progress report on the probe into attacks and proposed separate housing and transportation for Indian students. Brumby, who is leading a nine-member delegation, met Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal here Friday morning.

September 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - John Brumby, the premier of Australian state of Victoria, Friday proposed to give separate transportation and safe housing for Indian students studying in Australia. Union Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, after a meeting with a nine-member delegation led by Brumby, said: "It is a proposal by the Australian government.

August 10th, 2009 MELBOURNE/INDORE - Two more Indian students were separately assaulted by a group of men in Australia. Gaurav Kakkar, a student of a hairdressing course, was attacked by a group of men on Friday when he was talking to his family in Punjab's Ferozpur from a local telephone booth.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Consequent to apprehensions over slump in migration after the alleged racial attacks, Australian Minister of Immigration and Citizenship Chris Evans has reiterated commitment to providing a safe and successful environment for Indian students to study in Australia. He said this while speaking to media persons after his meeting with Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal in New Delhi on Wednesday.

June 23rd, 2009 MELBOURNE - Racial attack on Indian students in Australia continued, with latest victim being M A Khan, studying at the Victoria Institute of Technology (VIT). This was the 15th attack on Indian students in Australia in less than one month.

June 10th, 2009 SYDNEY - Two people were arrested and more than 100 others were told to move on after an Indian community in Sydney's west held a protest against racial violence on Tuesday night. Up to 150 Indian people from the community stormed the streets of Harris Park about 8 p.m.

June 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd had assured him that racial attacks on Indians in that country would be "strongly dealt with". "I have already spoken to the prime minister of Australia and he has assured me that any racial attack would be strongly dealt with," Manmohan Singh said in parliament, while replying to the debate on the president's address.

June 9th, 2009 MELBOURNE - The police chief of Australia's Victoria state on Tuesday admitted that some of the attacks on Indian students across the country were racially motivated, as claimed by most of the Indian victims. Victoria's chief commissioner of police Simon Overland said that some of the robbery attacks were racially motivated and others are were opportunistic.

June 7th, 2009 MELBOURNE - In another attack on Indians in Australia, a car belonging to an Indian student was torched in Melbourne Saturday night by suspected drug addicts. While the police have ruled out a racial motive, the student has claimed it was a racial attack.

June 2nd, 2009 SYDNEY - Indian nationals living in Australia have expressed deep concern over the manner in which the Indian media has covered the recent Australian assaults on students and many consider this reporting "irresponsible" This comes as the Indian media is doing exclusive coverage of the Australian attacks and has been extensively rebuking the country for being a racist. "There is a problem with Indian media and Indian leadership - they can't assess a situation in a rational way.

June 1st, 2009 LONDON - Indian students at Oxford University Monday joined in the growing protests over racist attacks on their counterparts in Australia, saying they are baffled by the failure of Australian authorities to take stern measures. Indian students at the University of Oxford strongly deplore the violent attacks on students in Australia.

May 31st, 2009 MELBOURNE - Hundreds of Indian students in Australia have embarked on a peace rally aimed at curbing racist violence. The march comes in response to a recent spate of violent attacks on Indian students.

May 31st, 2009 MELBOURNE - Thousands of Indian and Australian students gathered outside the Victorian parliament Sunday to protest a string of attacks on Indians in Australia that many say are racially motivated. The students, including many from other Asian countries, shouted slogans against the Australian government and the police for failing to protect the Indian students.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI/MELBOURNE - The Indian external affairs ministry Friday called Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy and conveyed its concerns over the allegedly racist attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, the second largest city of Australia. N. Ravi, secretary (east) in the ministry, met the Australian envoy and sought assurance about the safety of Indian students in Australia.

March 3rd, 2009 VIENNA - Incidents of anti-Semitic violence have been on the rise in Europe since last December and could be related to the recent fighting in the Gaza Strip, the European Union's Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) said Monday. The number of anti-Semitic incidents fell since January 2007, but there was a recent upturn, the Vienna-based agency said in a report.