INDIA on Saturday (October 9) slammed “racist” emails circulated by Australian police with video an Indian man being electrocuted on top of a train and summoned the country’s ambassador.
The foreign ministry had complained about the video to Australian high commissioner Peter Varghese and demanded action, a top ministry official said.
The Internet video shows graphic images of a man being jolted by overhead power lines as onlookers screamed, and did the rounds among officers in Melbourne following a series of violent attacks against Indians, Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper said on Saturday.
Comments including “this might be a way to fix the Indian student problem” were added as the video was emailed around, the report said.
“We have sought for an explanation and also want to know what steps will the Australian government take against the racial slur,” the Indian official told reporters.
The video was uncovered in a sweeping internal probe into offensive emails launched in March which the Victoria state police chief Simon Overland has acknowledged involves a “large number of police,” including some of senior rank.
“This is completely offensive and contrary to the views and values at the heart of the Victorian community – tolerance and respect,” Victoria state Premier John Brumby was quoted as saying.
Overland described the material as “disturbing, offensive and gross”.
Australia’s ties with New Delhi were strained earlier this year after a wave of violent crimes against Indians, including the stabbing-to-death of a man and a number of muggings and beatings.
Victoria police came under fire for their response to the attacks, which prompted a cartoon in Indian media likening the force to the Ku Klux Klan.
On Thursday (October 7), India had denounced “racist” remarks made by a New Zealand television anchor about an Indian minister.
