The Indian government has urged its media to show restraint when reporting attacks on Indian students in Australia.
As an Indian man recovers in hospital after allegedly being attacked and set alight in Melbourne on Saturday, the Indian foreign ministry warned that the Indian media's aggressive coverage on recent violence could have a bearing on bilateral relations between the two countries. Foreign Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash called on the local media to "exercise utmost restraint."
The comments followed the second attack on Indians in a week. On Saturday evening Jaspreet Singh claims he was doused with petrol and set alight by a group of four males as he parked his car near his home after a night out with his wife.
The previous weekend, graduate student Nitin Garg was stabbed to death as he walked to work at a fast food restaurant in Melbourne.Mr Garg's body was flown him today. His death sparked protests in India amid aggressive media reports that alleged the attack was racially motivated.
On Friday the Australian government was forced to defend police after an Indian newspaper published a cartoon depicting a policeman as a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
The cartoon, which shows a person wearing the white robes of the KKK and an Australian police badge, reads: "We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime."
The Australian government today welcomed India's move to temper anger over the attacks, which follow a spate of assaults on indian students in the middle of last year.
"I am very pleased that overnight the government has issued what I believe is a very constructive and responsible advice and that is not to overreact to it, to understand that investigations are being undertaken," said Simon Crean, the acting Trade Minister.
"We need to get all of the facts first and we shouldn't overreact until all of the facts are in."
The attacks last year sparked street protests and strained relations between Canberra and Delhi. Australian Prime Minister visited India in November to reassure the Indian government that its students were safe in Australia, as teh growing row threatened Australia's lucrative education trade with India.
The number of Indian students in Australia has rocketed in the last few years, since the Australian government offered permanent residency to overseas students enrolled at Australian colleges. PR, as it is commonly known, has spawned a vast overseas education industry worth $15 billion to Australia, $2.3 billion of which comes from India alone.
Although Australian police have insisted the crimes were not racially motivated, Australia's High Commissioner to India, Peter Varghese, admitted this week that race might have been a motive for some of the attacks, particularly where the attackers engaged in racial abuse.
His admission came shortly after the Indian government issued a travel advisory for Indian students travelling to Australia, warning them of an increased risk of assault, especially in Melbourne.
Mr Crean today reiterated there was no evidence to suggest that the recent attacks were racist.
"I think it is important in terms of the two most recent events that it is not only the Victorian police saying that there is no evidence in either case that the murder and then the subsequent attack were racially based.
"I think it is also important in terms of the most recent incident, that a relative of Mr Singh ... also doesn't believe that it was racially based," he said.
There is some uncertainty over the incident involving Mr Singh, which Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Neil Smyth described as "a bit strange".
He said there was no evidence it was racially motivated.
A police source told Fairfax Media "there are things that don't add up in the initial reports".
A police spokeswoman said the investigation was ongoing and the first task was always to establish whether a crime had occurred.
source: indiatimes
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