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Indians
have lost faith in Victoria Police
Melbourne:
Indian students have lost confidence in Victorian Police force that racially
profiles them. Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA) adviser Gautam
Gupta said a series of comments from Victoria Police had prompted Sunday night's
protest that was marked by violence and 18 arrests. FISA had pulled out of the
Police-Indian Western Reference Group set up in January to combat attacks on Indians
in Melbourne's western suburbs, he said. He said the reference group had made
the situation worse as did comments by Chief Commissioner Simon Overland and Deputy
Commissioner Kieran Walshe last week that Indian students were "passive, vulnerable
and soft targets". Overland denied the comments were racist and said they applied
to people of all races, but Gupta said Indian students felt they made them more
vulnerable. Another Indian community leader Nitin Gupta - no relation - said Tuesday's
move to factor hate-based crime into sentencing laws was welcomed.
