Protests continue in India over Australian attacks on students

Student activists under the banner of Non-Aligned Students and Youth Movement (NAYSM) staged a mass demonstration in the national capital New Delhi on Thursday (June 18).
They were protesting against the attack on Indian students in Australia that they termed as racial.

The protesting activists raised slogans and displayed placards condemning the attacks.

"We are holding this demonstration and later we will be going to Australian High Commissioner to submit a memorandum to condemn the racial attacks on Indian students in Australia," said Subash Chaudhary, Chairman of Non-Aligned Students and Youth Movement (NAYSM).

It may be recalled that these attacks have caused some diplomatic discomfort between the two countries and sparked angry protests in India after a gang attacked four Indian students with a screwdriver when they were partying in Melbourne last month.

Another Indian student was attacked in what appeared to be a robbery, and there were three other attacks in early May, including two on Indian taxi drivers.

The recent attacks on students in Sydney and Melbourne have been described by the Indian media as racial evoking angry protests in India.

However, Canberra which initiated a probe condemned the attacks but contended racism was not behind these attacks.

Police said the violent assaults were purely criminal.

Around 93,000 of the 430,000 foreign students in Australia are Indians, up from around 30,000 just a few years ago.