The stabbing and subsequent death of 21 year old Indian student Nitin Garg, in Australia has again provoked hues and cries, raising the specter of racism from the Indian media. The minister of External Affairs S M Krishna was quick to issue a statement to the effect of reprimanding the Australian authorities of the “deep anger” caused by such incidents and the “bearings” they could have on bilateral ties – as quoted in the media.

The immediate rebuttal from the Australian side terming the attack “vicious” but too premature to decide if it were “racist” too was quoted but not much attention or caution seems to have been heeded to it. It is assumed tout court that the Australians 100 percent are racists. After all, the Indian audiences have been witness to more than one instance of unruly behavior by the Aussie cricketers in our pitches.

No doubt, racisms of all sorts, wherever it happens, have to be condemned unconditionally. But, do the opinion makers of the Indian subcontinent – the media, the elite, the political commentators have ever stood up to such high moral grounds?

Let me try to recollect a few instances.

1. The ODI series between the West Indies and Indian cricket teams in 2002-03. I hope a few might remember that the series was marred by instances of audience hooliganism in more than one venue. Of particular significance was the incident of “bottle throwing” that happened in Rajkot on 12^th November. Significant since it was apparent that the Indian side would emerge as the winning team. Neither the media nor our diplomats hyped on the incident, and it was not discussed with due attention with the exception of one singular commentary, but in the recesses of the “sports column”. The article written in the November 23 – December 06, 2002 issue of “Frontline” (available here) is worth quoting in length, since it throws light upon some less known facts about the racism prevalent among the Indian audience some decades back in time:

More disturbing is the trend of behaviour towards black cricketers who visit India. The West Indies suffered unruly Indian crowd behaviour as early as 1967, when a police attack and subsequent mismanagement by local administrators led to the interruption of the Calcutta Test. In January 1975, a pitch invasion and subsequent riots in the final Test at Bombay resulted in the loss of 90 minutes of play. Even during their 1994 tour of India, there were widespread complaints from the Windies players about instances of stones, bottles and fruits being thrown at them. Courtney Walsh was struck by a glass bottle in a ODI at Kanpur on that tour. Statements from the West Indies players such as “we are not animals” should really make Indians hang their heads in shame. One uncomfortable question begs to be asked: Is there not a racist angle in the abuse of West Indian players?

Let’s leave the question open for the readers to ponder over it for themselves.

2. Coming back to the future, when the first flurry of whining about the racism of “White Australia” began to flow through the pages of the media since May 2009, a few alternate viewpoints raised by some Indians residing in Australia were swept “down under” in the typical Indian fashion. In spite of that, those views are still relevant and needs studied thinking. Here is Abhijeet Satapathy (http://abhijeets.blogspot.com/2009/05/racism-and-multiculturalism-conflicting.html), an engineering student’s reflections on his experience with Australians to the ‘core’:

My work here in Australia working at mine sites leads me a lot more into country Australia rather than Sydney.… Singleton, the town where I currently reside is a majority Anglo-Saxon based populace with a virtually non-existent expat Indian presence.… As a result, everyone I meet here and most of my “mates” here are white. So do I get the usual racial taunts because here it is just me against ‘em. The answer is a resounding NO…. These people are obviously ignorant about Indian customs but not once do I hear a sneer or derisive comment about these being weird or antiquated. In fact they relish a conversation as they learn more about India. And I am only more than happy to help. Are these country towns multicultural? No. But are they racist? No again.

Allowing the possibility that some might rebuff it as an isolated experience, I would like to bring to attention a more studied observation by another student. (http://www.somethingaboutthelaw.com/2009/06/02/attacks-on-indians-reflections-from-australia/) Ms Amrita Khemka who was in Australia in 2009, on a student exchange program with the University of New South Wales, after listening to the opinions of students from diverse backgrounds concluded that,

From what I understood after listening to the views from people living here, the situation is one that merits immediate attention; Indians are victims most of time mainly because they are scared to report to the police. Even when there has been complains to the police there is no immediate action.

Having said that, I do not agree with the way the Indian media has been portraying the entire matter. This is a sensitive issue and the way it is being dealt in India will definitely affect Indians living in Australia as well. I agree that the there is need for curative steps, but response must be measured and not taken in haste.

Incidentally, except one of her interviewee most do not concur with the opinion that “all Australians are racists”, and most of them express concern over the sensational hype in Indian media over the whole issue. And it is important to note that two of them raise the question “do we Indians have any moral grounds to charge other cultures of discrimination”.

This brings us the next point which I wish to raise.

3. In October 2009, the UNHRC decided to declare discrimination based on caste in its list of human rights abuses. Much to the surprise of many observers the govt. of Nepal accepted the move by UNHRC while the Indian diplomats lobbied to their utmost capabilities to remove the word “caste” from its draft. These are well known facts and it did get some good coverage in the media. But did we get as much “hue and cry” as in the case of the innocent Indians stabbed in some far off land, suffering racial discrimination in some white man’s land – Australia? Did the media rise up on its heels to analyze the issue with an open mind, let alone condemn the Indian government’s bashful approach framing it “as international meddling in internal affairs”? Any concerted effort on the part of any media group to stand up against such a policy?

Blink! Blink! Just don’t think! That’s the attitude of most of the ‘responsible’ media in India.

No point in raising all these questions to the ‘independent and responsible’ media. No way that an ordinary citizen can opine on issues crucial to the society. Better be dumb and numb. That’s what seems the ‘best way of life’ these days.

Set not to think, I had no other option than to settle with the best one at such circumstances – the idiot box, to relax or better to numb my already numbed senses.

Browsing through the channels finally settling down on channel Pogo, I had the misfortune of watching this disgusting cartoon series titled “The New Adventures of Hanuman”. The routine of the little hero Maruthi in the series is to fight evil forces, as can be expected in all sorts of moralistic adventure stories. But in this particular series imagine who turns up evil. Well, it’s China! The character personifying evil, is a lizard (mini – dragon?) which has the powers to take on any form it wishes, and curiously it takes the form of a Chinese boy and tries to steal Indian treasures.

Now, this is how the media injects slow poison into the veins of our young saplings. This was how, as I now recollect, that our own generation were fed with by Amar Chitra Kathas in our ‘good old times’.  And this is how our media is trashing our minds.

Tags: Amar Chitra Katha, Australia, Caste, caste discrimination, CHINA, Cricket, India, Media, Nepal, Nitin Garg, ODI series, Pogo, Politics, racism, S M Krishna, UNHRC, West Indies, White Australia