After Australia, attacks on Indians in Canada

Just as Australia looked like settling down, report came on Wednesday of a racist attack on six Indians in Vancouver, Canada. The four assailants were arrested shortly after, reports Dheepthi Namasivayam.

Just as Australia looked like settling down, report came on Wednesday of a racist attack on six Indians in Vancouver, Canada. The four assailants were arrested shortly after.

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The victims were playing tennis at Jackman Park tennis court when the four assailants — three boys and a girl, all in their teens — walked in on them, carrying a metal bar and boards ripped off a fence.

A newspaper report said the assailants made some racial comments and hit one of the victims on the head with a board.

All four were arrested and charged with robbery, assault and uttering threats. The police said a unit specialising in dealing with hate crime was helping with the investigations.

The police in Australia, on the other hand, took many days to admit the attacks on Indian students there were racist. They claimed, and maintained, that these were “opportunistic” attack — just plain crime.

On Tuesday, they admitted that these attacks were indeed racist in nature.

“There are constraints to private investment and the government will have to move towards removing them,” said the minister.

In another positive signal to the private sector, Sibal said the government would not force private higher educational institutions to reserve quotas.

He said his policies would specifically target the SCs, the STs and minorities. “For the minorities, we will do what the Sachar committee has recommended and more,” he said.