Destination Australia!

Incidents involving mugging and stabbing of Indian students in Australia, especially in Victoria, are a matter of grave concern. Many Indians have been robbed in the past but the increasing numbers of students- estimates vary between 1 to 1.5 lacs- have led to racist attacks bordering on culpable homicide to attempted murder. The frequency of vicious assaults on those who have legally sought admission there and are shelling out hefty fees averaging 2 lacs in Indian rupees have caught everyone’s attention. Routine diplomatic steps like summoning the Aussie envoy in New Delhi and phone calls by PM to his counterpart raised some hope that the matter will be resolved. However, excessive use of force by the police on Indian protestors on a sit-in shows that racism pervades even the police force there.

What should India do? India should take steps that hurt Australia. They can't make money from our students and then stab them with screwdrivers or hurl petrol bombs at them. Indian govt. should issue an advisory against travel to that country, whether for study or for tourism. Once billions of dollars, which are being earned by Australian educational and travel industry, go away, their government would understand that racism against Indians cannot be taken lightly. Banks should refuse study loans if the destination is Australia. We should derecognize Australian degrees unless those holding them clear equivalence tests here in India.

It is a pity that our students are forced to study abroad. This is largely due to reckless introduction of reservation in admissions as well as teaching. Though advocates of social justice refuse to accept it, yet merit surely takes a backseat. The admission opportunities to quality technical institutes in India must be increased. This could be done by introducing paid seats in elite institutions and the money thus raised can be used to set up more facilities here. In short, stop patronising foreign universities and improve educational infrastructure here. With stringent regulation by UGC and AITEC, it should be possible to open private universities and provide educational avenues to those who have the means to pay for them.