18 Indian protesters detained; taxi-driver fresh victim in Oz

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, Jun 1 (PTI) A taxi driver from India's
southern city Hyderabad became the latest victim of assault on
Indians even as Australian police Monday faced accusations of
excessive force to break up a peaceful sit-in here by hundreds
of Indian students protesting a spate of attacks on their
community.

As many as 18 Indian youths were detained for "breaching
peace" after the protesting students, shaken by a wave of
racial assaults, including on 25-year-old Shravan Kumar
battling for life in a local hospital, blocked the busiest
street of this city in Victorian state, demanding justice.

The protest, however, was called off early Monday
morning after the protesters accused police of high-handedness
and "ramrodding" them to break up their sit-in.

The identities of the 18 detained were not yet known
but there were reports they have been set free.

"There was definitely an amount of excessive force by
Victoria police," a protester Yogesh Malhotra told ABC radio.
"Six (police) to one guy who was sitting down peacefully, who
was punched and dragged," he said. Activists alleged some
individual protesters were punched and dragged away.

Victoria police commissioner Simon Overland however said
the action was justified as protesters had ignored a final
order to leave the busy street. "There were blows, as I said,
because arms had been linked, and there was a lot of
resistance going on," he said agreeing some force was used.

In a fresh case, a taxi driver from Hyderabad was bashed
up and punched by a passenger, who was in an inebriated state.

As the attacks echoed in Parliament, Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd assured India that perpetrators of the recent assaults on
Indian citizens here will be met "with full force of the law".
He condemned the incidents as "senseless" and "deplorable"
acts of violence.

Meanwhile, a local community newspaper 'South Asian
Times' reported that an Indian student, Ashish Sood, studying
at the Carrik Institute here was badly beaten a group of 15
youngsters on Saturday midnight at the chappel Street.

Sood, 28, along with three others were attacked by the
group who started teasing and bullying them for nothing and
then pounced on them, it said.

Ashish was hit by a suspected metal object and the police
was called, the news report said, according to family sources.
Ashish was admitted to Alferd Hospital with injuries and later
discharged.

In an apparent damage control exercie, Rudd said Indian
students in Australia are "welcome guests" in his country.
"I said to Prime Minister(Manmohan) Singh that the more
than 90,000 Indian students in Australia are welcome guests in
our country" Rudd told the Parliament.

"I speak on behalf of all Australians when I say that we
deplore and condemn these attacks," he said.

In the Melbourne incident, the 35-year old driver was
assaulted by the drunk passenger after he expressed inability
to take him further due to a technical problem in his vehicle.

The victim, who went unconscious after the attack
yesterday, was taken to the hospital by the police, who also
took hold of the attacker, a family member told PTI.

The victim, however, said he did not think it was a
racially motivated attack but an "opportunistic crime".

Describing the attacks as "profoundly un-Australian,"
opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull said: "These students are
guests in our country and this recent violent behaviour has
the potential to do great damage to the reputation of
Australia as a destination of choice". PTI NC
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