Indian students at Oxford University on 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 here strongly deplore the violent attacks on students. We are very shocked to learn that such acts of violence against the Asian students have been frequent in the recent past,” said Aadya Shukla, president of the Oxford University Indian Society.
A large numbers of Indian students at Oxford and other universities across Britain have reportedly been registering their protest on the Internet and plan to send a letter to the Australian High Commissioner in Britain to express outrage.
Facebook group
A Facebook group set up by Shukla in support of Indian students in Australia has drawn messages of solidarity from not only Indians, but also Australian, European and British students.
“Each of these messages conveyed the same thought that the young people around the world do not condone such dastardly acts of racial hatred,” Shukla said.
“I must add that we were disappointed to see that the regular UK media failed to report this incident — despite a huge Asian population in the UK. We got to know about this incident only through the Indian media.”
{{/usCountry}}“I must add that we were disappointed to see that the regular UK media failed to report this incident — despite a huge Asian population in the UK. We got to know about this incident only through the Indian media.”
{{/usCountry}}Aussie PM condemns attacks on Indians
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd condemned a spate of attacks against Indian students. Rudd stressed the country’s diversity and tolerance despite the attacks, which have left one student fighting for his life and prompted headlines such as “Australia, land of racists” in India.
“I speak on behalf of all Australians when I say that we deplore and condemn these attacks, these are senseless acts of violence,” Rudd told parliament.