Indian Students in Australia Protest Racial Attacks (News)

Thousands of Indian students gathered outside the Victorian parliament in Melbourne on Sunday to protest the spate of attacks on them in Australia. They shouted slogans against the Australian government and the police for not being able to protect them from the recent attacks.

The rally was organized by the Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA) along with Melbourne University’s Graduate Student Association.

The rally was held following a growing anger in the community over at least four assaults on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney that has left one battling for life and another recuperating from a stab injury.

Hospitality graduate Rajesh Kumar received 30 percent burns last Sunday evening after an unidentified person hurled a petrol bomb through the window of his Harris Park home in Sydney he shared with other Indians. There have been three other attacks on Indian students in quick succession in Melbourne, with the first incident being reported May 9 while the most recent took place on Monday.

Sravan Kumar Theerthala, 25, was assaulted on Sunday in Melbourne along with three other students. The attackers allegedly hurled racist abuses at the Indian students and hit Theerthala with a screwdriver.

Another Indian student Baljinder Singh was robbed and stabbed in Melbourne on Monday. Singh had left a railway station when two men carrying weapons approached him and demanded money. As he searched through his bag to hand over his wallet he was stabbed in the abdomen.

Sourabh Sharma, 21, was beaten by a group of young men as he travelled on a train May 9. Sharma suffered a fractured cheek bone and a broken tooth in the attack, which was captured on closed circuit television cameras.

Watch Indian students in Australia protest racial attacks

Pictures from the protests in Melbourne – Thanks to Yrch, Prakash Roy!

Source: CNN-IBN

Note: Please share pictures if you have participated in this rally. We will be more than happy to publish and refer you back on the website.