vIndianz.com (16 Jan, 2009) — Melbourne: Amidst news of attacks on students, mainly Indians in Australia, comes another attack. On Wednesday, three Indians who were among a group of six South Asians were denied entry by a bar in Melbourne in what is being described by them as “a case of racism”.
Sujan Pathak, a Nepali student who was among the six group students, is quoted as saying in Indian media. The group was turned away by the Melbourne Centre Lion Hotel bar without giving any explanation.
“We had gone to the bar to throw a farewell party for one of our friends, Abhishek Aggarwal, who is about to leave for India. We tried to get into the bar, There were so many guys in front of us and right behind us as well in the queue. They denied us (entry), said ‘you guys can’t get in’,” Aggarwal told NDTV over phone.
“We were not drunk, we were carrying our age proof, we were properly attired. But still they said ‘you guys can’t get in’. They didn’t give us any reason. We waited there for 10 minutes. All other guys were getting in… But we were not allowed to go inside. We called police and asked them for help. We told them this is a case of racism, because I don’t see any other reason for not letting us in,” he said.
“Police said ’sorry sir, this is not a case of racism. There’s nothing we can do about it’,” Aggarwal said.
All bars here display a notice outside that they can turn away any customer without giving any explanation.
This new incident came amid a string of attacks on Indians in Australia, mostly in Melbourne, with 21-year-old student Nitin Garg, who was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants, becoming the first victim of such assaults this year. Another Indian youth, Ranjodh Singh, was killed in New South Wales last month.
Nearly 100 cases of attacks on Indians were reported in Australia in 2009 as against 17 incidents of assaults in 2008.
On Wednesday, an under-construction gurdwara in south-east suburb of Melbourne was damaged.
In another development, an Australian court has sentenced Paul John Brogden of Ballarat in Western Victoria to serve three months in jail after he threatened to kill an Indian taxi driver. Brogden, 48, pleaded guilty in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court to two counts of unlawful assault, one count of criminal damage to the value of A$1520 and making threats to kill.
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