ANTI OZ RAGE IN NEW DELHI

Red News Readers,

Good on Vahn Rudd and his friend for their action at the tennis. Those who oppose racism in this country need to demonstrate to India that racism should not be tolerated in Australia, and that there are citizens here who are appalled at what has happened in some of these attacks. I was working a nursing shift in Westmead ED recently, and a young 20 year old Indian male presented after being bashed. Two white skinned men he did not know got out of a car, and charged at his friend but could not catch him, so they bashed the patient instead. Fortunately he sustained only minor injuries.

Jenny Haines


Anatomy of hate as magazine unleashes anti-Australian rage

MATT WADE IN NEW DELHI, smh

February 1, 2010

Venom … the influential magazine devotes 10 pages to its inflammatory cover story.
IT IS a magazine cover that will make the hearts of Australian university bosses and diplomats sink.

"Why the Aussies hate us" screams the cover of this week's influential Indian news magazine Outlook.

The 10-page coverage includes stories of young Indian victims of violence and racial abuse and describes how Indian students in Melbourne feel afraid on the streets.

Van Thanh Rudd, an anti-racism activist and Kevin Rudd's nephew - recently criticised for wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit to protest against attacks on Indians - told Outlook the "dominant culture in Australia'' was racist, and that he had no doubt the attacks had been racially motivated.

The magazine quotes far-right politicians and says it has found ''evidence that 'curry-bashing' is becoming a fun game for white Australians". Outlook, a centre-left weekly, is one of India's top-selling English-language magazines with a circulation of 1.5 million and a big online following.

The story was introduced on the Outlook website with the headline "Anatomy of hate". The report is the latest in a stream of negative publicity about violence against Indians in Australia.

There are signs the Indian government is increasingly impatient with Australia's response. The External Affairs Minister, S.M.Krishna, met the Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, in London twice last week. An Indian government statement said Mr Krishna told Mr Smith it was increasingly difficult to accept the attacks were devoid of any racial motives and that he complained there had ''been no visible progress so far into most of the investigations''.

The editor-in-chief of Outlook, Vinod Mehta, defended the coverage and denied allegations that the Indian media were overreacting. He told the Herald: "We sent two correspondents to Australia and they found that an overwhelming number of these incidents were racial and they found that Indians in Australia live in fear. There is tremendous outrage in this country. I don't think the Australians realise that."

Mr Mehta said one reason for the anger was the "smug and superior attitude of the Australian government for denying there was racism and then telling the Indians not to hype this up".

Mr Mehta said he published the story with great regret.

"I like Australia a great deal but you have to see there is a problem, and by denying it you won't get anywhere."

The story includes comments by right-wing groups in Australia. Outlook quotes Jim Saleam, the head of the anti-immigration party Australia First, that Indians are ''becoming a serious threat to white Australians in the job market". Bob Vinnicombe of One Nation is quoted as saying Australia ''should actively encourage bringing in Christians and white people from Zimbabwe and South Africa".

But the magazine does not report that three people charged with the murder of Ranjodh Singh were Indian nationals.

Reports about attacks on Indians have damaged Australia's $15 billion a year international education industry.