Indian KKK Cartoon

[Iron Zombius]

Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard has reacted angrily to a cartoon published in India that depicts a police officer in a Ku Klux Klan outfit.

The Delhi Mail Today newspaper published the cartoon in response to the murder of Indian student Nitin Garg in Melbourne last weekend.

The cartoon shows a person in a Ku Klux Klan hood wearing a police badge, with a caption that reads: "We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime".

The Indian media has suggested the attack may have been racially motivated, but Melbourne police say there is no evidence of that.

Ms Gillard says Victorian police officers work well with Melbourne's Indian community and she is outraged by the cartoon's Ku Klux Klan reference.

"Any suggestion of that kind is deeply deeply offensive to the police officers involved and I would absolutely condemn the making of a comment like that," Ms Gillard said.

"[The police] have indeed worked in close collaboration with representatives of the Indian community as they've gone about this step up in policing."

The Victorian Government has also added its voice to the condemnation of the cartoon.

Police Minister Bob Cameron says it is a slur on the reputation of Victoria's police force.

"This is just terrible," Mr Cameron said.

"Victoria Police is a very tolerant organisation and Victoria is a very tolerant state. To suggest that Victoria Police is racist is just plain wrong and it's offensive to the good police we have here in Victoria.

"It just doesn't help anyone at all to have people from the sidelines throwing bricks.

"We've got a good police force and we should let our police force go about their policing business in a sensible and a calm way."

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland also condemned the cartoon, but called for calm.

"Look it's a cartoon, so I just think we need to keep it in perspective. We know we're not racist," he said.

Opposition leader Ted Baillieu says the cartoon is unhelpful, but can understand the anger in the Indian community.

"Talking to the Indian community both in India and here, these are the issues on their minds," Mr Baillieu said.

"What's happening here is that they are talking amongst themselves and clearly they talk to their families.

"Word of mouth is a very powerful tool and we have to turn that word of mouth around."

Police Association secretary Greg Davies says it is highly offensive to suggest police are not properly investigating the murder.

"To say that our detectives are going slow on this, or for some reason trying to protect somebody, is incredibly offensive and wrong," he said.

"It's based on nothing but obviously a slow news day in Delhi. The identity of the offender from the homicide in Footscray isn't even known at this stage, so we don't even know what nationality the offender is.

"To say it's a race-based crime is not only premature, but stupid."

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbot has told Sky News there is little that can be done about the Indian cartoon.

"When it comes to free speech, we've got to accept the rough with the smooth," he said.

Police are still searching for the Indian man's killer.

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201001/r495673_2592509.jpg

 

[FerretallicA]

Clearly we're not sending them enough chick'n.

 

[Southy]

lol

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

This whole thing is getting ridiculous, I'm sick of hearing that just because Indian students happen to be the victims of violent robbery attempts, it must be a demonstration of racial hatred Australia has towards them. They seem to be ignoring the fact that:

a) The attacks mainly happen around Dandenong, Footscray & Sunshine. Most Melburnians know they have to exercise caution in (or avoid) those areas at night, especially around train stations & car parks. Oh and where have most been occurring? Train stations & car parks. They are notoriously unsafe neighbourhoods, known to have youth gangs running around, and Footscray in particular has huge drug problems.

b) Those areas also happen to be among the most ethnic in Melbourne, have comparitively low populations of the "White Australians" the Indian media are painting as being like the KKK, and the actual attackers have been of various races & ethnicities themselves. Including Anglo-Australian yes but also African, Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander. Now, how come the Indian media fail to mention when they talk about an Indian being attacked, when the attackers were immigrants themselves, and then accuse Australia of having a deep seeded hatred towards India. Does this also mean Sudan, Ethiopia, Fiji, Tonga, Vietnam and Lebanon have a deep seeded hatred towards India? Everybody knows Australia (and particularly a city like Melbourne) is a multicultural society, so to paint a picture of us as racist white supremacists is just stupid.

c) A good point has always been that Indian students are often in a situation more likely to attract danger (ie. Working high risk jobs, on night shift, and having to come home to dangerous neighbourhoods late at night), and the rebuttal has been that they don't really have a choice as that's all that's available to them etc. Fair enough but justifying your reason to be in that situation doesn't make the situation any less of a risk for you, sorry. A junkie who wants to take your iPod to Cashies the next day is gonna try to rob you regardless of your reason for getting off the last train at Footscray Station. He's not gonna care what race you are either. The same issues came up last year when an Indian cabbie was stabbed in Grey St, St Kilda. Do ya know how many stabbings have happened in St Kilda since I've lived here? I've lost count, and most around the Grey St area.

It actually makes me laugh even using the term "dangerous neighbourhood" when talking about Melbourne. It ain't exactly Detroit or St Louis! By world standards, Melbourne is an extremely safe city for its size. Put it in the USA and it probably wouldn't even make a "100 Most Dangerous Cities" list there. But the fact is, it is a large city and large cities have crime, particularly in areas with more of the social factors that cause it.

I'm not saying there hasn't been racial attacks because there have been some of them as well, but to jump straight to "Australia is racist" every time an Indian is attacked is just stupid. Some of these claims have happened before the race of the attacker has even been identified and other ones have happened when the descriptions for Crimstoppers have even specifically said "The attackers were said to be of _____ appearance". When a person is robbed, the motivation isn't racial hatred. It's wanting their belongings. Simple.

 

[Shadow298]

know one of the cops who investigated the stabbing of an Indian ages ago (I think the second one that started the media blitz) and it was proven to be a junkie who did it (a big DUH for the Footscray area) but no one wanted to listen.

the Indians seemed to want someone to blame and racism external deflects a lot from internal issues (look at Iran for an example) and the local Melbourne councils and mayor's offer refuse to accept drug related crime for some retarded reason -preferring to ignore and push it aside.

you're exceptions right there, Trent, and I've been arguing the same for ages.
just too lazy to type it all out.

 

[timmy_522]

This whole thing is getting ridiculous, I'm sick of hearing that just because Indian students happen to be the victims of violent robbery attempts, it must be a demonstration of racial hatred Australia has towards them.

I agree completely. I exercise caution at times when in public because i may be subjected to violence and or robbery. I don't go out looking for trouble but on occasion it finds me, i deal with it and move on. I do not go and find a scapegoat. The police do their best but they cannot be everywhere all the time. This is slander pure and simple.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Yup. Most common crimes that happen are drug related. That's much more of an issue than Australian law enforcement not "protecting" Indian students enough. It's about being sensible, and if trouble does find you anyway - well shit, it's unavoidable sometimes regardless of your race.

 

[Winmar]

I'm in agreement. I'm not sure if they expect each Indian to have an armed guard with them or what. For some reason I expected the Indian media to be slightly more sophisticated.

I read that something like 32,000 people were murdered or manslaughtered (is that a word?) in India in 2007. I know they have a billion people there, but it's still a massive number.

Still, the issue might teach people here not to jump to conclusions about a country or race based on sensationalised media reporting.

 

[Goreripper]

The Indian media only took it up after the Indians here started making a fuss about it. Australia can't be the only place full of Indian students getting victimized.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

You're right Rob, I read that the actual murder rate in India is more than double what it is in Australia. So in reality, the students are still safer here.

An interesting piece of information came out yesterday too - the Indian who was supposedly set ablaze with petrol in a racial attack in January, was found out by the arson squad to have actually set himself on fire accidentally while torching his car for a fraudulent insurance claim, and is now facing charges!! That actual case got heaps of media because the guy claimed he was attacked by racist hoodlums and people were sickened by it, but he made it up!!!

 

[Goreripper]

They will throw the book at this guy too. Insurance fraud and arson are two of the worst things to be charged with in this country.

 

[Celestial-Todd]

But no doubt it won't be reported back in India

Much like the Indian who was murdered by two other Indians. Or the Indian woman a few weeks back that was murdered by her Indian partner

 

[phlogiston]

http://vindalooagainstviolence.wordpress.com/

 

[Goreripper]

G-hey.

 

[FerretallicA]

http://vindalooagainstviolence.wordpress.com/

My prediction: a lot of people who are responsible for restroom maintenance will be 'conveniently' calling in sick on the 25th, or involuntarily calling in sick on the 26th.

 

[timmy_522]

http://vindalooagainstviolence.wordpress.com/

Sounds like multiculturalism for the ignorant to me. Yeah lets all get together and eat Indian takeaway, because that's really all the country and people of India have to offer us really. Someone needs to think before posting this stuff to the internets.

 

[Iron Zombius]

if i register, can i take my naan-a?

 

[Winmar]

Only if you take your papa-dum too. Oh dear, there must be more like that!

 

[FerretallicA]

Just make sure you pick somewhere BYO. The house Vin de Loo usually tastes like shit.

 

[FerretallicA]

Hackers take `racist' revenge for attacks on Indians

HACKERS claiming revenge for racist attacks on Indian students have targeted the servers of several Melbourne businesses, shutting down computer systems and resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost income.


Victoria Police yesterday confirmed they were investigating cyber attacks on several Melbourne businesses that had been targeted in the past four days.


"The Victoria Police e-crime squad is investigating reports of the alleged hacking of a number of different business servers located in Melbourne. The ongoing investigation is in its infancy and it is inappropriate to comment any further", a police spokeswoman said.


The director of a Melbourne-based construction company told ABC radio's Jon Faine that his server was wiped of its data on Saturday and was unable to be restored for 2 1/2 days, costing the company about $100,000.


The alleged hackers have sent firms, believed to be in the engineering and construction industries, a message reading: "Your server data have been compromised by Ghost Buster and have been encrypted . . . Stop racial attack against Indian people. If you don't, then we will be hacking your f . . king Australian servers every day."


The Australian understands that the external website of the Royal Australian Air Force was the target of a similar attack by hackers in July last year, when attacks on Indian students also made international headlines.


The message posted on the RAAF website read: "This site hacked by Atul Dwivedi long live India. This is a warning message to the Australian govt. Immediately take all measures to stop racist attacks against Indian students or I will pawn all your cyber properties like this one."


A spokeswoman for the Department of Defence yesterday said the incident had been investigated by the Defence Security Authority. "The website was taken down as part of the investigation and was later restored," she said.


She could not comment on whether the address of the alleged hacker responsible for the message had been identified, or if the email threat originated from inside or outside Australia.

Nice. It certainly makes me sympathise with the poor Indians and makes me want to welcome them into Australia in even bigger waves.