A DIPLOMATIC row between India and Australia has escalated after an Indian man was set on fire in Melbourne.
Jaspreet Singh (29) was attacked by four men who poured a liquid on him and ignited it in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Mr Singh was in a serious but stable condition in hospital last night with burns to 15 per cent of his body on his hands, face and legs.
The assault follows the murder of Indian man Nitin Garg (21) a week earlier and a series of attacks on Indians, many of them students, in Melbourne since last May. These attacks led the Indian government to issue a travel notice last week, warning its nationals to take extra precautions in Australia.
The Australian government has reacted angrily to accusations that the attacks are racist.
A cartoon in New Delhi’s English-language Mail Today newspaper last week depicted an Australian policeman in a Ku Klux Klan outfit saying: “We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime”.
Responding to the cartoon, Australian deputy prime minister Julia Gillard said: “Any suggestion of the kind is deeply offensive and I would condemn the making of such comment.”
Det Snr Sgt Neil Smyth of Melbourne police said he did not think the attack on Mr Singh was race-related. “I believe there’s no reason at this stage to consider this in any way racially motivated,” he said.
But Indian minister of overseas affairs Vayalar Ravi, whose portfolio includes responsibility for Indians working and studying abroad, reprimanded Australia for not doing enough to stop such attacks.
“I want to make it loudly clear that the [Australian] government should take preventive action,” he said.
“Why cannot they arrest them and put them behind bars and prosecute them? Surely the Australian police must be efficient enough to mark these people? Our government expresses serious concerns and is waiting for results.”
Australia’s education trade with India is worth Aus$2.3 billion (€1.48 billion) annually, but the number of Indians seeking to study in Australia has dropped significantly in recent months.
Pankaj Kumar (24) told the Times of India newspaper yesterday he would now study in Cyprus rather than Australia. “Due to attacks on Indians, I changed my plan. Cyprus is offering me not just job surety, but security too,” he said.
Ireland and other European countries are now seen as safer destinations for Indian students.