Indian student rally calls for equality

Indian students have rallied in Sydney, protesting against racist attacks and
calling on the federal government to stop treating them like "cash cows".

Hundreds of Indian students and supporters rallied at Sydney Town Hall and marched
to Hyde Park on Sunday, calling for an end to violence and inequality.
The young Indian men and woman delivered passionate speeches about being bashed and
robbed in Sydney, claiming police and other authorities were ignoring their plight.
They also called for Australia's education and immigration policy to be overhauled
so overseas students are protected from dodgy landlords and employers and receive
the same benefits as domestic students.
The gathering follows a rally in Melbourne in late May of 2,000 demonstrators from
the Indian community after a series of recent attacks, including two stabbings.
Student and part-time taxi driver Navjot Singh told the Sydney rally he was recently
slashed across the face with a knife.
He implored police to do more to protect foreign students, saying racist attacks
occurred on a regular basis in areas of Sydney with large Indian populations.
"There are thousands of people, thousands of Indians - international students every
day robbed at Harris Park (railway) station," he said.
"We are just talking peacefully, nothing else but peacefully. Go and do your duty at
Harris Park station.
"Go there, patrol that area - make it safe, make it safe, for God's sake, make it
safe!"
National Union of Students president David Barrow told the rally that government
policy toward foreign students was discriminatory.
"For too long, the education sector and the government have treated international
students like cash cows, not like human beings," Mr Barrow said.
He said overseas university student fees were rising, landlords and employers were
taking advantage of them and they couldn't survive under visas limits of a maximum
of 20 hours of work a week.
"It is not acceptable to have 10 or 15 students crammed into an apartment being
charged $150 a week (each)," Mr Barrow said.
"And we know that there are bosses out there who say to international students `you
work 30 hours a week and we're going to pay you under the minimum wage'."
Rashmi Kumar, president of the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative
Association, echoed Mr Barrow's sentiments.
"Now we can stand together, domestic and international students - all together, to
try and get an education that's not based on exploitation, on racism, on violence
and discrimination," she said at the rally.
Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell said every NSW resident deserved the same
protection under the law.
"Whether it's someone of Indian background or someone of any other nationality, we
need to ensure police properly respond to attacks upon citizens in our suburbs," Mr
O'Farrell told reporters.