Racial email scandal: India reacts sharply, urges Australia to take action
NDTV Correspondent, Updated: October 09, 2010 14:38 IST
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New Delhi: India has reacted sharply over a racist email scandal involving top Australian police officers.
New Delhi: India has reacted sharply over a racist email scandal involving top Australian police officers.
In a statement after meeting the Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese in New Delhi today, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said, "It was conveyed to Australian envoy that such an entrenched bias among sections of law enforcers towards the Indian community is a matter of serious concern. Such behavior and attitudes have no place in any society. We sincerely hope that apart from taking action against concerned officers, Australian authorities will also take necessary and effective measures to address concerns about safety of all people of Indian origin in Australia."
Reacting to the issue, the Australian High Commissioner said his government strongly condemned the offensive email.
"Can I just say in relation to this e-mail that the Australian government, the Victorian government and the commissioner of the Victorian police condemn it in the strongest possible terms. This is an e-mail which is offensive; it's unacceptable and it's completely contrary to the principles of respect and tolerance that we seek to embed in Australian society," Varghese said.
Victoria Police officials in Melbourne were caught joking about a video which shows an Indian passenger on the roof a train getting electrocuted as he touches the high-tension wires.
(Read: Australia police in racist e-mail sting)
In a sting conducted by Australian newspaper the Herald Sun, police officers circulated this gory video and joked that it could be a way to fix Melbourne's Indian student problem. Some of Melbourne's highest-ranked police officers have been implicated in the scandal, which also involves pornographic material.
Three superintendents were nabbed during an investigation into the circulation of inappropriate e-mails through the police computer system and several inspectors have also been caught, the report said. E-mails probed by the Ethical Standards Department's (ESD's) Operation Barrot contain pornographic, homophobic, racist and violent material.
Reacting to the scandal, Chief Commissioner Simon Overland described the e-mails as "disturbing, offensive and gross".
The scandal involving "sick" Victorian police officers came at a time when the force's command was trying to ease racial tension after a number of assault cases involving Indian students living in Melbourne.
Victorian Premier John Brumby criticised the actions of the police who circulated the racist material. "This is completely offensive and contrary to the views and values at the heart of the Victorian community - tolerance and respect," he said.
There are over 70,000 Indian students in Australia. Enrolments from the sub-continent have fallen by half in 2010, after recent incidents of hate crimes.(ndtv)
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