About 18 months ago, a Chinese graduate student we knew was killed in a race-based violent incident near Columbia University. This was a very bright, personable young man of great promise. His senseless death appalled the Chinese Student community in Columbia and galvanized the University into taking steps.

The highest officials at Columbia got involved; they worked actively with the US State Department and obtained a visa for the student’s parents within 24 hours. The University flew the parents to New York City for memorial services for the fallen student, services that were arranged by Columbia University. 

In addition, Columbia officials worked with the Chinese student community to create awareness as well as to develop solutions. The University also worked with the Police Stations near Columbia to ensure safety of the Chinese student community.

Recently, the Indian student community in Australia has been subject to violent, racist attacks by native Australians. The attacks have been persistent and savage, especially in Melbourne. From the media reports we read, the Australian Universities have paid very little attention to these attacks and have not taken any serious steps.

The problem got so severe that about the Federation of Indian Students of Australia organized a protest rally in Melbourne. Media reports suggest that 200 Australian cops met the rally and meted out fairly violent treatment to the peaceful protestors.*

The continuing racial attacks on Indian Students and the inaction of the Australian authorities have inflamed feelings in India. The Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan declined to accept an honorary degree from Brisbane University in Australia and Amir Khan, another major Bollywood figure, has raised his voice in protest as well.

The Chinese Government has raised its concerns about the safety of Chinese students in Australia. There are about 130,000 Chinese students studying in Australia. 

This is not just a racial issue but a major economical issue for Australia. The  Australian “Overseas Student Industry” has revenues of $15.5 billion Australian dollars and is Australia’s third largest export industry. So, Australia is worried that crippling sanctions by Chinese and Indian Governments could damage this industry. We are delighted that China and India are working together on this issue.

When we read the media stories on this subject, we again realized how America differs from Australia and other Anglo-Saxon countries like England. It also shows that the human rights beliefs and standards of American Universities like Columbia are far, far superior to those of Australian Universities.

In our opinion, the Australian Society and Australian Government as a whole have tacitly accepted racism as a part of their official policy. This tacit sanction is akin to Pakistan’s acceptance of the Jihadi element in its society.

As far as we are concerned, we have begun an immediate boycott of Australian products and will maintain this boycott until Australia takes corrective steps and pays substantial damages to the families of students killed in Australia. We urge all readers of this blog to support this cause by boycotting Australian products until this issue is resolved.

This reminds us of our May 2, 2009 article Where Are India’s Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Joe Scarborough? An Indian Bill O”Reilly would have galvanized Indian society around this issue in a way timid Indian Anchors simply cannot. The loser once again is Indian Society.

This issue again brings to fore the essential differences between Australian and Indian Society, especially the educated middle-class segment of Indian Society. After all, the vast majority of Indian students in Australia come from this segment. These students are taught to be nice, polite, to concentrate on their education and to not get involved in any disputes. This makes them ideal students but unfortunately it leaves them clueless about dealing with racism, hate and violence.

A couple of years, a similar problem had erupted between the Indian Cricket Team and the Australian Cricket Team. At that time, an Australian writer had said to an Indian commentator (as reported in bbc.com) that “Indian players were good, middle class boys whereas the Australians were a team of “goondas” or  a thuggish group of nasties”. Finally, the Indian Team chose the young, confident, aggressive Dhoni as its captain. We described the impact of Dhoni is our April 10, 2009 titled  Dhoni Captains The World – When Will An Indian Leader Do That? 

Just as Dhoni changed the character of the Indian Cricket Team, India needs a leader to change its character from a meek society that tolerates abuse and shrinks from embarrassment to a confident, aggressive society that warns others to not tread on it and its people. 

Such a leader will teach young Indian society and Indian students in particular that

Send your feedback to [email protected]