There was a time when Australia was not allowing non-whites and was known for its obnoxious ‘White Australia' policy. That had changed and when I visited the big country down under in 1974 I did not find what I had been reading every now and then; It's not what I am reading more frequently, now.

To me - an Indian, and probably the first Indian journalist to  visit Australia - the country was hospitable, peaceful, caring and not racist. The people I met were friendly, non-belligerent, jolly and very helpful. Everyone from the Australian High Commissioner (Ambassador) Bruce Grant, and his staff, in New Delhi to Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and elsewhere in the vast continent-nation things were beautiful and people were friendly. Yes, the immigrants were not many, then.

Now with frequent attacks on Indian students, killings, and arson at places of worship (a Gurudwara recently), things seem to have changed enormously. Australia doesn't seem to be the same country, inhabited by the same people and its government the same. Something has seriously gone wrong, somewhere.

The incident of setting fire to a Gurudwara under construction in a Melbourne suburb, January 12, is the latest in the string of apparently violent racist attacks on Indians and people/places related to India.  

What would you call frequent attacks, the governments taking the matter seriously, the Australian leaders assuring India that strict action would be taken against miscreants, more attacks, more protests in India and Australia, and the Indian government issuing advisory for Indians to be careful and ensure their own safety while going to and traveling in Australia? Isn't hate a factor here?

Things have come that far! How and why?

On my visit 36 years back I went to shopping centers, traveled alone by train at dead of night, visited the Zoo, went on Lions Safari and other places almost all over the country. From Perth to Melbourne to Brisbane to Canberra and to Sydney and a couple of places in the outback/the interior, I saw and met numerous friendly people. I saw and met ‘white' Australians and also aboriginals - not much different from Indian people living in the Southern states and Andaman-Nicobar islands of India. I had no problem.

They were all nice people, cordial, amicable, and warm-hearted. Some were more friendly than others, as happens everywhere. Some invited me to their parties, homes and were hospitable.

What happened to them, to their next generation, to ‘white' or other immigrants? Now some of them at least are just the opposite of the people I came across when I traveled coast to coast and stayed at various places. Have more immigrants vitiated the place?

There were not those many people then, also fewer immigrants, fewer Indian students - who now make up the second largest group of foreign students after the Chinese. The Australians then were interested in knowing other people. One of the top sitar players, Debu Chowdhury was visiting Australia then and everywhere he went he drew big audiences who heartily applauded the maestro. There were Indian professors at Australian Universities and Indians working at railway stations and Iron ore mines. There was no racial tension and belligerency visible or felt by me.

I won't say that there is no history of exploitation, discrimination and racism at all. You just cannot eliminate these traits from the people in any country. But if it was, it was not manifested, not asserted and not translated into attacks and assaults and murders. And I did not hear, see, or read about any attacks on Indians then.

Things seem to have changed and changed for worse. Australia is becoming a scary place, especially for Indian students. Despite repeated assurances by top leaders of that country, the safety of Indian students has not been ensured. There have been fatalities also in the recent weeks.

As India and Indians are concerned about the situation the leaders of Australia insist that their country is safe for all international students and even gave the excuse that acts of violence occur in big cities around the world.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard insisted that Australia was a safe country for all international students. "In big cities around the world we do see acts of violence from time to time; that happens in Melbourne, it happens in Mumbai, it happens in New York, it happens in London," she was quoted as saying by ABC news.

"Any individual act of violence is obviously to be deeply regretted and our sympathies go to anyone who is harmed by an act of violence" the Minister said.

Yes, they do occur but targeting a particular country's students is something else, not random acts of violence.  Days after a student, Nitin Garg, was stabbed to death, a partially charred body of another youth from India was found in New South Wales. India was, rightly, outraged but again, Australia's Minister Simon Crean said there was no evidence to suggest that the attack on Garg was racially motivated and also asked New Delhi not to whip up "hysteria" over such incidents.

While one can understand such sentiments but ensuring the safety and security of people, especially foreign students, are the paramount responsibility of the host government. It's absurd to cite cases of violence elsewhere to try and mitigate the circumstances and dilute the criticism.

Attacks on Indian students have continued with regularity and the couple of New Year incidents have crossed all limits. For the last two years there has been a spate of instances of Indian students attacked, insulted, humiliated, harassed and assaulted. The Australian government has failed to take effective and determined action to prevent these incidents, vigorously investigate the acts of violence and bring the culprits to justice.

The ineffective government action has encouraged more attacks by aggressive and violent miscreants and criminals without fear of arrest or prosecution. Some weird reasons are put forward in some cases like they were ‘related to money owed,' or cases of ‘personal animosity,' or that the victims were ‘at the wrong place at the wrong time.' Harry Goring of Australian Workers Union said he knew of ‘unpaid laborers taking matters into their own hands.'

Apart from the Australia leaders assurances to India the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs SM Krishna, as usual, came out with a strong statement warning of "other ways" the government might look for to tackle the situation. What other ways the government will look for? What did the Indian Embassy and Consulates did in Australia to be pro-active in these matters and be constantly concerned and watchful of these unfortunate incidents.

To be vigilant for the safety of its citizens is one of the first requirements for any foreign diplomatic mission in a country. The record of Indian missions is not very laudable in this regard.

It is evident that something more is urgently needed to be done by Australian authorities in this matter. Things have not been handled effectively, expeditiously, and seriously; obviously the Police indifference, along with a lack of correct approach, are very much evident. The authorities keep on insisting that these incidents are not racially motivated without any detailed investigation. I hope they are right, but unless there is urgent action and they result in peace and normalcy, everyone in India and India-related would see race-hate in all these attacks and killings and condemn them.

Australia, no doubt, has emphasized their policy of "zero tolerance for racism" and has decided to review their legislation to ensure the safety of foreign students. Apart from the goodwill factor, foreign students pay huge fees to Australian Universities to help keep them in business. Education industry is quite profitable there and negative publicity could undermine it all in no time.

There are around 100,000 Indian students in Australia contributing about four billion dollars to the Australian economy. The total inflow from the presence of foreign students in Australia is over 13 billion dollars.  

Besides the financial aspect, the goodwill between India and Australia is huge and is mutual. Australia is fast expanding and Indians want to avail of the opportunity to study and contribute more to further develop relations between the two countries - a vital part of stable democratic group of nations in the vast region.

I wish and hope to see the Australia I love and the people I knew to be friendly. I want Indians and Indian students (all foreign students for that matter) study, roam about and work freely without any fear of attacks, racial or otherwise. I know there are instances in India also involving foreigners but that's no excuse for similar things happening elsewhere to shame us or create hatred among us. Life is too precious to waste and relations too sweet to destroy them.