Lessons in ‘racial abuse’ for students following foreign dream

By: Akhilesh

Last week an Indian ‘student’ (Gurjinder Singh) committed suicide in Australia. The reports which flashed on various news channels and newspapers alleged ‘inability to find a job’ as the reason for Singh’s extreme step. If that is the case, I fear a large number of students from India, including Himachalis, who aspire to travel abroad in search of a better career, are at great risk. Immigration consultants have especially been wooing students from small towns and therefore it becomes important for students from places like Himachal to understand the perils of pursuing a foreign dream.

I do have friends who studied in Australia for the sake of ‘global exposure’ and came back to work in the motherland (India). They were wise enough to understand present economic situation and near impossibility of fulfilling their ‘dream to work in a foreign (White) land’ in times of recession. But not everyone who goes to a foreign country for studies thinks it that way. Most of the times it is the name and fame associated with ‘working in foreign land’ that allures youth to take this step. It doesn’t matter whether you work as a taxi driver or as software engineer abroad. The professions I have mentioned in the previous lines are just to mark a contrast. For the functioning of our social system as a whole every job is essential and for that matter every profession deserves due respect. What I mean is that people who go abroad for studies might not think of doing the same work in India as they end up doing abroad to sustain themselves.

Coming to overseas education scene in Australia, the intake of Indian students in the year 2007-08 was 39,015 according to the Australian immigration department. It grew by 34% annually from 2006-07 onwards. With recession and fall of markets, the sentiment of growth (in intake of overseas student) also was hit hard. We (I and my Australian-returned friend) discussed the matter and raised four aspects of the plight of Indian students in Australia. They were:

1. Growing interconnection between Indian agents (education consultants) and debased colleges. She says these colleges run with the help of educational consultants in foreign countries (like India, China, etc.) who make sure that cash flow is steady at the cost of false hopes to students who approach them. It makes a lot of sense if we see the growth of educational consultants and rise in number of students going for overseas studies.

2. Popular perception among the masses and in media that Australia is land of vast opportunities. Indeed, Australia is land of vast opportunities, but a foreigner should always keep a track of employment scenario and economic growth in a developed nation. Today, developed nations are outsourcing their work to developing nations. It has actually two sides – some countries outsource due to shortage of labor in that industry and others outsource to cut down costs. In any case, there is a slump in the employment sector in that country and given Australia’s service-based economy (70% of GDP), expecting a job after a job-hunt is foolhardiness in these bad times when the world economy is in turbulence.

3. Bait of permanent residency. This was started by the Australian government under PM John Howard. It was started in order to give a boost in overseas education. But it evolved the meaning of ‘education’ to ‘residency’ and soon saw a large influx of students in hope of making fortunes by getting a permanent residency. This possibly created a mismatch in demand and supply and led it to present a situation whereby the Australian government is now mooting to set a limit for intake of foreign students.

4. Living costs are high and not many are prepared to take on the ‘cultural shock’. In Australia the living cost is high and to sustain a living standard most of the students have to take up part-time jobs. They come across many things which they are never told. Like many are told they will be able to sustain by doing part time, but no one gives them clear picture of how many hours they can work and about the work they might have to do.

I was wondering and pitying at the same time for poor students who fall prey to crooks in the society but, one also wonders the role the Indian government is playing. Nothing big like this under the sun goes unnoticed from the government’s eyes, but still nobody cares about it.

The problem of cultural conflict (Racial abuse of Indians by Australians)

The racial abuse of Indian students at the hands of Australians was the talk for past few months in every house in India. Now when the government (Australian) has reluctantly accepted that it is a case of racial abuse, the question that arises is whether it is the ‘cultural difference’ which has brought out sudden outbursts from Australians or is it ‘threat to potential employability’ in times of recession.

If we take a look at Australia’s history, it appears Australia is among the few countries that can be termed as “countries of immigrants”. Australia has immigrants from all parts of the world who exist along with ‘aboriginals’. The Australian government has been facing internal conflict for a long time with ‘Aboriginals’. They (Aboriginals) too have reasons to be in conflict given the bloody history which involves their ancestors. Now if Australia is land of immigrants then they are well used to being multicultural. So the abuse on Indians still remains racial but the reason is not cultural differences, rather it is the second one mentioned over which is enough for fanatics to justify their ruthlessness in times of drudging economy.

It came out that this conflict might also have happened between ‘Lebanese immigrants’ and ‘Indian immigrants’ over ‘potential employability’ and my friend was shrewd enough to mention that this divide will remain between any two communities. Whatever (racial abuse of one group at the hands of other) Australia has witnessed recently will soon be forgotten after some time but given this trend of settlement of immigrants, another round of such madness is bound to happen, maybe next time it wont be Indians but some other community.