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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Australian PM urges calm among Indian students |
| 2009-06-10 |
| Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned Indian students not to take the law into their own hands after a second night of rowdy protests against alleged racial violence. Rudd backed a new crackdown on race attacks in Victoria state, the centre of recent tensions, but said the students needed to "draw some breath" and calm down. "I fully support hardline measures in response to any act of violence towards any student anywhere -- Indian or otherwise," Rudd told commercial radio. "And furthermore we also need to render as completely unacceptable people taking the law into their own hands. "Everyone needs just to draw some breath on this and we need to see a greater atmosphere of general calm." About 70 students gathered in Sydney's west for the second consecutive evening on Tuesday, brandishing the Indian flag and chanting "Australian police, bullshit." Two people were arrested at the rally, which followed a bigger protest on Monday during which Indian students attacked a carload of Lebanese men apparently in retaliation for an earlier assault. So is this a Hindu-muslim thing w/ Arab immigrants preying on Hindus? Can one of our Aussie readers elaborate? Meanwhile, Victoria premier John Brumby announced a race-crime blitz focusing on Melbourne's train stations, where Indian students have increasingly been the target of robberies and assaults. One student is fighting for his life in Melbourne after a screwdriver attack that prompted earlier protests and headlines such as "Australia, land of racists" in the Indian media. Activists say there have been about 70 attacks on Indian students in Melbourne this year. Some 95,000 Indians are studying in Australia after a university publicity blitz targeting the huge Asian country's growing middle class. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #1 More angry scenes erupted in Sydney's west overnight as tensions increased between local Indian students and the Lebanese community. About 70 students gathered in the heart of Harris Park, but this time they were confronted by local Lebanese youths. Police were forced to hold back the angry mob in the third straight night of protests. The Indian protesters continue to say they are being attacked by Lebanese youths and police are ignoring their pleas for protection Melbourne : attacks by north africans is hinted at but no verifiable reports that I have seen. |
| Posted by: Classer 2009-06-10 18:39 |