Attacks on Indian Students and the Harris Park Protests: A Consul General Looks Back

Main Article Content

Amit Dasgupta

Abstract

From the end of May 2009, for about a year, academics and scholars, media, educationists, parents, students, diplomats on both sides, and the governments of India and of Australia were focused on a single issue: attacks on Indian students in Australia. It is no exaggeration to say that the frequency and number of attacks and, in some cases, the uncalled-for viciousness, was disturbing, confusing and totally unanticipated. Perhaps the single biggest failure was the collective inability of all stakeholders to anticipate the problem and to act in time. The system failure ought to have been recognized well before the keg burst. Once it exploded, it overwhelmed the system like a tsunami. 

Article Details

Section
Non-refereed Articles
Author Biography

Amit Dasgupta, S.P. Jain School of Global Management

Amit Dasgupta is a career diplomat and author. Before being appointed Indian ambassador to the Philippines he was Indian Consul-General in Sydney. He received an award from the Community Relations Commission of NSW for his role in promoting communal harmony during the Indian students crisis. Following his retirement from the diplomatic corps, he continued his fiction and non-fiction writing. He recently took up an appointment as head of the Mumbai campus of the S.P. Jain School of Global Management. He regularly writes and speaks on foreign and security policy and management related issues. Amit is a member of the Advisory Board of the New Delhi-based think-tank, Society for Policy Studies, which specializes in international relations.