New Delhi/Melbourne: Three days after an Indian youth was fatally stabbed in Melbourne, India's External Affairs Ministry on Tuesday issued an advisory asking Indians studying in Australia and those planning to do so to take extra security precautions while moving around in that country.
The Indian Government issued the advisory even as Australian authorities on Tuesday said that a partially-burnt body found in New South Wales (NSW) province was that of a young Indian man.
The body is yet to be formally identified but investigators believe it to be of a 25-year-old Indian man, The Age reported on Tuesday.
Alluding to a surge in incidents of assault and robbery targeting Indians in Australia, the Ministry issued a list of dos and don'ts for Indians in that country.
It includes not travelling alone at night and not carrying more cash than required.
Significantly, New Delhi did not ascribe these attacks to a racist motive, saying there is no "discernible pattern or rationale behind them". Increasingly also, the acts of violence are often accompanied by verbal abuse, fuelled by alcohol and drugs.
Australian authorities have maintained they were probing Sunday's stabbing incident and it was premature to conclude that there was any racist angle to the attack.
The external affairs ministry also stressed that the attacks are continuing despite a slew of anti-crime measures taken by the Australian authorities and added that while most Indians have a positive experience in that country, it was advisable to take some security precautions.
Some of the important highlights of the advisory include:
-- If you are travelling alone, make sure that you have checked out your route carefully and that you keep to well-lit, populated areas as far as possible.
-- Make sure that someone knows where you are going and at what time you are expected to return. Do not make it obvious that you are in possession of expensive items, such as ipods or laptops.
--Always carry some identification with you as well as details of who should be contacted in an emergency.
--If in danger, dial 000 to get police help.
The ministry has asked Indians in trouble to get in touch with the officer responsible for students welfare in the high commission or the consulate nearest to them.
Twenty one-year-old Nitin Garg was knifed in the suburb of West Footscray Saturday while on his way to work. He staggered to Hungry Jack's restaurant and pleaded for help before collapsing. He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where he died.
The fatal stabbing of Garg elicited strong condemnation from India with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna saying that if such attacks continued, they could strain bilateral ties.
The brutal killing of Garg has put Indian students in Australia under "pscyhological stress", said a student's union official in Melbourne who added that Indian students were fearful and confused.
Krishna Monday said the Australian government was "duty bound and morally bound to investigate and bring the culprit to book" in the killing of Nitin Garg.
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