So I know I am supposed to be bubbling with patriotic fury that my brothers are being beaten by a bunch of "convict descendants" (as many are now deeming the Australians) but I am sorry...I feel nothing of that sort. There are so many facets to this issue that I don't know where to begin.Let me start by stating my opinion. Australia according to me is NOT a racist country and I don't say this because I live here now or have become apathetic to the sufferings of my countrymen. I don't deny that there have been several attacks over the last few months in the state of Victoria alone and that they have been unprovoked and of racial origin but by and large this country is not racist. To support this there are several points I wish to make.
First of all, the Indian media has gone into a frenzy sensationalizing very small incident that occurred to an Indian in this country. There has really been no integrity in their reporting and many have been baseless and thoroughly irresponsible. Since the unsuspecting citizen has nothing besides the media to go by, they have chosen to assimilate every reporting as the truth. Second, I really want to know which country isn't racist? India definitely cannot win a crown on that one! Our country has its own significant quota of prejudists and bigots. For heaven's sake...you don't have to look beyond the caste system. I have grown up in a country where the SC/ST/Dalits etc are treated like trash. They are constantly fighting for their rights, and now due to decades of piled up anger they are turning against the so called "upper class". I myself remember the hatred I used to feel towards them when I was a student because they enjoyed reservation in everything and slipped in conveniently everywhere because of it. The Hindus hate the Muslims and vice versa, North Indians and South Indians can't stand each other...and who are East Indians excuse me?...some chinkis or as we prefer to call them "manchurians".What do you call a country that is intolerant to its own countrymen?
Ok, so lets pass the caste issues in India...how do you think we treat foreigners who come to our land? Take Goa for example, how many foreigners have been burgled, beaten, raped, murdered, mutilated etc and somehow I don't recall watching on TV people burning effigies or our Prime Ministers and demanding U.N intervention. That's just Goa to start with. We laugh at foreigners like they don't have any emotions (and I have seen this happen so many times in my own city), we ridicule their ways and call them white trash, our men would look at every foreigner wearing short/exposing clothes as if they were sluts and are issuing an open invitation to be raped. Sonia Gandhi would have never become a part of our country if she didn't wrap that Khadi sari around her and pull the pallu modestly over her head. I have been to Hampi/Goa/Rajasthan and have seen for myself how foreigners have to pay three times the price of anything they touch and it is a "take it or leave it situation". So wouldn't all this count for racism too? What rights do we have to treat them like this? Isn't it the responsibility of our country to make sure these things don't happen? And with all this dirt on our backs to carry what are we being so righteous about?
Racism is wrong! Anywhere and everywhere and in any which way...it is wrong! If this country has treated Indians or any other immigrants racially, then they need to accept, review and correct their ways but to blow one's top and react so agitatedly and cripple a relationship with a country is extremely immature and uncalled for. Besides, most of the attacks have been in the student community or on taxi drivers. In both these sets, I have often noticed irrespective of the nationality, temperaments are often volatile and therefore there is always 2 sides to consider. In another news, Amitabh Bachchan I read has refused to accept some Australian honor because he feels it is being unsporting of his country's moment of suffering. I am sure this got him immense amount of much needed publicity but his yielding sacrifice has nothing but augmented the fury amongst our already self-righteous people. One would have expected celebrities who carry such mass influence to behave more responsibly. I tell you why I say this.
As much as we Indians love to over react and dramatize, reality is quite boring. Many Indians in Australia live lovely, peaceful and fulfilling lives. They enjoy good education, enviable careers and the climbs that come with it, they mingle well with the locals and have great relationships with them. They promote their culture, lifestyle and cuisine openly and it is widely accepted and appreciated in this country. Many Australians are curious to know more about India and its deep history and culture. Having said all that, it becomes very embarrassing for us non-harassed Indians to live amongst our Australian friends when our brothers back home are constantly and irrefutably destroying our relationship with them. All these candle light vigils, protests and dharna's are very impressive when seen in movies like Rang de Basanti but when it is threshed out at every opportunity of drama, unnecessarily, then it becomes very irritating and irresponsible. Even the ones who have had no problem so far now start to face issues generated by mistrust.
Again, I am not denying that there have been racial attacks on Indians by Aussies and I feel this is highly condemnable and as such it should be taken seriously by this country. But we have migrated to another land seeking our "fame and fortune" and it therefore falls on us to better prepare ourselves to fit into its lifestyle and culture. We tend to group and refuse to budge out of our niche to allow them into our lives even though we live amongst them. We live in unsafe neighborhoods where the chance of any Aussie getting mugged, beaten, robbed is just as high as an Indian. We are not very subtle in projecting our lifestyle and tastes etc. While Australians need to work on maintaining a multi cultural society sans problems and friction it is also our responsibility to blend in better.
The overpowering response, rage and retaliation by my countrymen has been quick and reassuring, but I implore you all to tone it down by several notches and consider the other side of the coin too. It has now come to a point where our own PM is requesting us subtly to take the edge off our anger. Killing bilateral ties over a solvable problem isn't worth it.
