By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: India does not favour a joint probe into the attacks on its students in Australia but remains concerned about their wellbeing, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said here on Wednesday, even as news came in of an assault on a student from Gujarat near a railway station in Melbourne.

“We are concerned. It is natural to worry about them because they are our nationals. But it is for them (the Australians) to see (that the attacks are stopped),” Mr. Menon said.

While declining to go into whether the attacks were racially motivated, he said: “It is neither helpful nor required [to attribute motives]. The fact is that crimes were committed against our nationals and Australia must take action.”

Indian High Commissioner in Australia Sugatha Singh had said that while some attacks were “opportunistic,” others appeared to be racial in nature.

But the Australian authorities deny there was any racial element to the attacks and attribute the problem to the wider issue of increasing violence in some of the bigger cities.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to send a special envoy to Australia to infuse a sense of confidence among parents and instil a sense of security to encourage Indian students in that country to complete their education.

“The dreams of Indian middle-class parents who mortgage their life-time savings and obtain education loans to send their children have fallen astray to racist manifestations,” said CPI national secretary D. Raja in a letter to Dr. Singh.

Mere expression of concern over such attacks would not be enough. Indian students contributed about Rs. 20,000 crore to the Australian economy, he pointed out.
“Zero tolerance”

PTI reports from Melbourne:

Making an all-out effort to salvage its image battered by the spate of attacks on Indian youths, Australia on Wednesday expressed zero tolerance for racial violence, with its universities promising “a safe environment” for students of all backgrounds.

“We want to send a message … that the Australian government, the Victorian (State) government have no tolerance for any action based on racial intolerance,” Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Julia Gillard said.

The universities said “injury to even one student is totally unacceptable” and expressed their commitment to ensure that staff and students of all backgrounds enjoyed a safe environment.

“All universities do seek to create a safe on-campus environment for everyone through measures, including 24-hour security, escorting and shuttle buses, CCTV cameras, well-lit precincts and incident reporting. Off campus, there is extensive liaison with Australian authorities,” Universities Australia chief executive Glenn Withers said in a statement.
- The Hindu, 04 June, 2009

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