Australia's ties with India strained by another attack (Roundup)

Jan 9, 2010, 8:30 GMT

Sydney - A man of Indian descent was doused in petrol and set alight in a Melbourne street Saturday in what is likely to be seen in the subcontinent as another crime motivated by racial hatred.

The 29-year-old, whose citizenship at this point is unknown, is in a serious condition after receiving burns to 15 per cent of his body.

Melbourne police are looking for four men who allegedly poured petrol on the man, set him on fire with a cigarette lighter and ran away. They said they were unsure of the motives or the circumstances of the early-morning attack.

It comes a week to the day after Nitin Garg, a 21-year-old accounting graduate, was stabbed to death while walking to work at a Melbourne fast-food restaurant.

Police investigating the killing said last week they had no reason to classify it as a hate crime despite the victim being found with his mobile phone and wallet.

The refusal of police to immediately admit that racism was a likely factor was condemned in Indian newspapers, one of which published a cartoon depicting a police investigator in the hooded white costume of the Ku Klux Klan.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the cartoon was 'deeply, deeply offensive' and again promised to combat the street crime that disproportionately affects the 90,000 Indian students who are studying in Australia.

India's External Affairs Ministry said in a statement Saturday that it had received information about the 'unfortunate incident' in which 29-year-old Jaspreet Singh received burn injuries.

The statement said the Indian high commissioner in Canberra and the consul-general in Melbourne were following up the matter with Australian authorities.

The ministry also advised the media to exercise restraint in reporting on what it termed 'these sensitive issues' as it could aggravate the situation and have a bearing on India's bilateral relations with Australia.

Indian students in Australia pay for their education - which most hope will qualify them for permanent residency visas - by working part time in convenience stores, petrol stations and fast-food restaurants.

They work overnight shifts and use public transport, which puts them in proximity to drunken youths also out on the street at that time.

Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had described Garg's killing as a 'heinous crime on humanity,' warning that it would harm Australia's reputation as a safe place to study.

'It certainly will have some bearing on the bilateral ties between our two countries,' Krishna said.

Figures for the four months to October 2009 show successful applications for student visas down by almost a quarter and those from India down by almost a half on the equivalent period in 2008.

The global financial crisis and a recent government crackdown on colleges that have turned themselves into visa factories were given as reasons for the fall. But, especially in the case of India, the belief that Australia is not a safe place for foreign youngsters is also behind the drop off in demand for places in colleges and universities.