Changing ironies of Aus from Indian standpoint

Changing ironies of Australia from Indian sporting standpoint

What is the much talked about and most viewed news in India? It is undoubtedly, the racial attacks on Indian students in some cities of Australia. Prime time slots in channels and prime space in newspapers highlight the seriousness of the issue.

About 20 students were brutally attacked in the week, leading to both governments speak to each other, condemning the attacks. Australian High Commission in India is most visible on the screens, requesting calm, trying to control the crisis and also stop the negative image the country is getting. .

There are about 93,000 Indian students in Australia, some of them from affluent section of Indian society, most others middle class section who aspire better future with studies in developed countries. Australian Universities collect a good fortune with this fashionable influx Indians and with them the currency. Last year alone Indian students contributed INR 7500 crores which works out to a whopping AUSD 2.00 billion)

A vociferous section in India demand the government of some sort of advisory or ban for Indians to go for studies in Australia. Most of the affected students in Australia appear on television, pleading Indians of not to come for studies there.

We in the Indian subcontinent know well it is always Australia which issues travel advisory at the drop of hat, say, after small incidents like a bomb blast of insignificant impact.

Recently, Tennis Australia refused to play a Davis Cup play-off even after International Tennis Federation declared Chennai, the venue, safe. Reason: India is unsafe because a cricket team in Pakistan was subject of terrorists attack.

Australia perhaps does not differentiate the vast stretch from Iran to Burma, and consider dangerous, prone to terrorism, it seems.

Even Richard Charlesworth enlightened us recently why he left India? Not because of bureaucracy, not because of cold-shoulder by the egoist KPS Gill or the clueless Ad-hoc Committee, but please understand it was because ‘India is dangerous and unsafe’.

So, now in the light of racial attacks on Indian students, India has in its rightfulness to consider shunning Australia, and ask prospective students stop going Australia, a situation the Australian High Commission is desperate to avoid.

We in the sporting fraternity advocate restraint. Advise against exaggerating unusual developments. But Australia too need to understand global perception and exercise caution in its approach. There is no heroism in declaring cancellation of tour at every drop of hat. They should take a lesson from
Federation of Indian Students in Australia, which advices restraint and tries to put off the pressure from other groups to stage street protests.

We strongly feel Australia is one of the countries that prompts Malaysia to vie for hosting the next World Cup hockey, as according to them, if hearsay are to be believed, India is ‘unsafe’. The real motive, we all know, is the fond hope that that Malaysia might offer free ticket to teams as it did for the 2007 Champions Trophy!!!!!!

So, the ‘unsafe’ country’s citizen only wonders why Hockey Australia is not objecting to next cricket World Cup to held in India in 2011? We all know the reason: BIG MONEY. So, big money can shut big mouths. And it is not sporting, Oz.