What's happening in Australia?

What’s happening in Australia is appalling and any citizen of any country would feel insecure if the attacks continue as they happen today.

The law should take its course and most importantly the executive and the legislative in the respective country should ensure the citizens and immigrants feel safe and are provided adequate safety. The sad part is the attacks are not just on the professionals but on students too!

There are larger issues that come up when we think deeper about these attacks.

Why are 90,000 students from India in Australia?

Does the country not have decent educational institutes of repute to host and train 90,000 of its own youngsters? What is the government doing about it? Are we still fighting over petty chapters in history books that need to be added/modified/deleted to appease certain sections of the society? Can we not set up many decent institutions of higher and secondary education with in the country modeled perhaps on the world renowned IIT/IIM/NIT’s.

Why are professionals still leaving the country?

Exposure is one part that I personally have felt is significant when it comes to a career in a globalized world and being an expat provides with the much needed opportunities for this exposure. But if one looks at the salaries, Indian salaries have risen significantly especially in the growth sectors like services.

What about the self respecting Indian? Are we able to assert ourselves?

YES, especially over the last few years the surge and growth in the economy has made a lot of Indians confident (some over confident too!). We, as the Australia example shows are able to stand up, protest and demand what is rightfully ours.

Let the Australia incidents of protest against the injustice serve as an example to Indians in other parts of the world and call for their conscience and self respect. We need to see this in say the gulf countries (at least some of them) where hordes and hordes of migrants from places like Kerala are forced to work in inhuman conditions, where the “Sheikh” is served before anyone else even if he is the last to arrive, passports are snatched for a year(?) so you are bonded to the employer….

Let us rise, awake and demand for a humane treatment of our kids studying abroad and our bros and sisters working away from the country!