Stop hesitating, Indians are being targeted

Sure, the question of racism is something that, as a society, we often feel uncomfortable confronting, given our dark past. However, when we are confronted with attitudes that have resulted in brutal assaults, stabbings, innocent people ending up in comas, and one person being murdered, we need to start fighting the cause of all of these attacks.

So far, we have seen police directing their attention to victims and potential victims, telling them they should not speak loudly in their native language or travel on public transport with their MP3 players on display. Police also set up a hotline for Indian victims after the attack on Sharma. I fail to see how these measures tackle the cause of the attacks.

Then police plan went to India to educate Australia-bound students on how to minimise the risk of being attacked.

I thought the police said these attacks were opportunistic? Why, then, are they going specifically to India to advise Indians on safety? Or is this simply a business trip to ensure Indian international students continue to bring education revenue into the state by allaying their fears?

Where have we seen police addressing the racist aggressors? This is not to say the multicultural officers in the force are not doing a great job engaging with ethnic communities. But this is not a question of police talking to peak bodies such as the Islamic Council. It's about the fact that there has been no real, tangible response to this pattern of violent racism. The police are not responsible for defeating the disease of racism by themselves - the problem falls on all of our shoulders, particularly those of our leaders.

But what we can demand from police is a loud, vehement condemnation of racial intolerance. Victoria Police should not hesitate to do this - after all, it is the police who will be working overtime if these racially motivated crimes continue to rise.

Similarly absent from this conversation is Connex, which is responsible for security on its trains. It is ironic that the teams of public transport officers hired to stop fare evasion (with force, if necessary) are absent when a clear issue of safety emerges on the rail network.

In newspapers and on television, you may have seen ads for Championship Moves, a campaign by the State Government and the police to curb violence caused by excess alcohol consumption.

The website includes a variety of "moves" that party-goers can employ to get a mate out of an imminent fight, including "the muzzle" and "the lasso".

This follows similar public safety drives, such as the powerful Violence Against Women - Australia Says No campaign. Likewise, the Government, police and Connex need to begin a campaign to fight racial intolerance.

Silence at a time of increased racially motivated violence is a weakness we cannot afford.