A sorry from the Down Under

New Delhi: India has responded positively to the reaction of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd condemning the recent attacks on Indian students as deplorable.

By Shruti Chakraborty

"My government is working with authorities to bring those responsible for the violence to justice," Rudd told Parliament on Monday, adding he has also spoken to his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, about the attacks which saw hundreds of students in Melbourne take to the streets Sunday night in protest. "I speak on behalf of all Australians when say I say that we deplore and condemn these attacks," he said, adding: "I said to Prime Minister Singh that the more than 90,000 Indian students in Australia are welcome guests in our country."

“There’s no point sending your loved ones here to study if they feel under threat," he said.

Indian students say they pump billions of dollars into Australia's education sector, but believe their concerns about what they say are racially-motivated attacks are not being taken seriously. The issue came to light when 25 year-old Shravan Kumar, a student from Andhra Pradesh, was badly injured by locals. Kumar is currently hospitalised and is in a critical condition.

A friend of Kumar claimed that they were attacked by locals and asked to go back to India.

Concerns about violence against Indian students were raised by the Indian Prime Minister and the Indian High Commissioner to Australia last week. Last week, Singh Singh spoke to Rudd expressing India’s concern over the attacks on Indian students. Singh also expressed concern over the "adverse effect" this might have on the education sector in Australia, which has attracted thousands of Indian students. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had summoned the Australian High Commissioner in the Indian Capital, John McCarthy, to register India's concerns and press for concrete steps to stop such incidents.

In Mumbai, top Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan protested against the attacks, turning down an honorary doctorate offered to him by the Queensland University of Technology for his contribution to the world of entertainment. "I have been witnessing with great dismay and shock, the recent violent attacks on Indian students in Australia, on the electronic media," he wrote in his blog, adding: "Under the present circumstances, where citizens of my own country are subjected to such acts of inhuman horror, my conscience does not permit me to accept this decoration from a country that perpetrates such indignity to my fellow countrymen."

Bachchan was joined by another Bollywood star Aamir Khan who posted a note on his blog, labelling the attacks as “most disturbing".

Source : www.tehelka.com