`KKK` cartoon offends Australians: govt

Australia has condemned a "deeply offensive" drawing by an Indian cartoonist that
compares the police to white supremacists.
The cartoon, published in Delhi's Mail Today, shows a figure with an Australian
police badge dressed in a pointed white hood as a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
The drawing was published in response to homicide investigators in Victoria being
unable to say if the recent killing of 21-year-old Indian student Nitin Garg in a
Melbourne park was racially motivated.
The Ku Klux Klan dressed officer in the cartoon states: "We are yet to ascertain the
nature of the crime".
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemned the cartoon on Friday as the Indian
media continued to accuse Australia of not doing enough to solve the late-night
stabbing.
"Any suggestion of that kind is deeply, deeply offensive to the police officers
involved and I would absolutely condemn the making of a comment like that," Ms
Gillard told reporters in Brisbane.
Ms Gillard said police were doing an outstanding job with increased patrols in "hot
spots" of violent activity.
Since it was published on Tuesday, the cartoon has gone viral and made the rounds at
local police stations where officers said they were offended by it.
Greg Davies, secretary of Victoria's Police Association, said officers thought the
cartoon was "stupid" and unhelpful.
"Cartoons in Australia are normally done by people who are either clever or witty
and this one's neither," he told reporters on Friday.
"All it does is stir racial hatred amongst Indians, certainly in India and, one
would imagine, some of them here."
He said the cartoon was "highly offensive" to homicide squad detectives trying to
catch Mr Garg's killer and determine a motive for his death.
"To suggest that there's any sort of 'go slow' in an investigation into this tragic
murder because of a racial reason is just outrageous," Mr Davies said.
Mr Garg's murder has sparked a renewed debate about the safety of foreign students
in Australia.
Some local Indian leaders say racism is a significant issue for Indians who study in
Australia.
Victorian Police Minister Bob Cameron dismissed the cartoon as an unneeded distraction.
"We are a tolerant place and Victorian police are very tolerant and this business
about racism is just wrong," he told Fairfax Radio on Friday.
The Indian government has predicted the attack will affect relations between the two
countries as it once again pressed Australia to ensure the safety of its citizens.
Victoria Police initially declined to comment on the cartoon controversy.
But Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said on Friday afternoon that he understood
why officers would be upset.
"We have had a really significant and co-operative and strong relationship with the
multicultural community in this state," he said.
Comment was being sought from the editor and the cartoonist behind the controversy.