Indians in Australia to be taught to 'behave' in public: police

Indians in Australia to be taught to 'behave' in public: police

Melbourne (PTI): In a move aimed at saving Indian students from being frequently targeted by robbers, the Melbourne city police will "teach" them not to speak loudly in their native language or display signs of wealth such as iPods when travelling on trains at night.

The police move comes after it was found that robberies in Melbourne's western suburbs jumped by 27 per cent last financial year and almost a third of victims were of Indian appearance.

A special police team has been formed to combat the robberies amid fears that some are racially motivated and that Indian international students are soft targets because they carry iPods and laptops on trains late at night.

Inspector Scott Mahony, of Brimbank police, said it was crucial to stop Indian students becoming victims and address their mistrust of police.

"They need to make sure they walk through a well-lit route, even if it might be longer, and they are not openly displaying signs of wealth with iPods and phones, and not talking loudly in their native language," Mahony was quoted as saying by 'The Age' newspaper.

"We do believe there are some where the victim is targeted because of Indian appearance," he said.

The Federation of Indian Students of Australia says Melbourne, which has about 33,000 Indian international students, may no longer be seen as a safe destination.

Dayajot Singh, who helped organise a protest last year over attacks on Indians, said Indian students should be taught crime prevention as part of their university induction course.

"They should be told that if you go on public transport in this country, people don't talk loudly, they talk in a low voice. If you talk loudly it could be taken as violent behaviour. It's different cultural behaviour — speaking loudly to each other is not taken offence to in India."

Police were frustrated that the crime prevention message did not appear to be getting through. "We need to re-examine what we are doing to find out why it's not working," Inspector Mahony said.

A student Ricky Ahluwalia said he was knocked unconscious and robbed last year while walking to his Albion home from the station at night.

"There is a lot of racism. My friends, they have always had the same problems. It only happens with Indians, no Asians, no other people."

Other attacks on Indians include the stabbing of taxi driver Jalvinder Singh last year and the bashing of former Australian Medical Association president Mukesh Haikerwal.

pure racism. they should learn to respect what they fear!

Good God in heaven! they need to know that its not the Indians who need to "behave" in public, in fact it is themselves as they are practicing racism and putting humanity to shame. They are so powerless that they are not giving justice to Indians there, they shouldn't be there if there is no law and justice in Australia.

Can they 'teach' austrailians not to beat and Kill Indian Students?