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Hindu extremists burn Kevin Rudd effigies

HINDU extremists burned effigies of Kevin Rudd and shouted angry slogans outside the Australian High Commission in New Delhi yesterday as fury over a series of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne reached dangerous new heights.

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Amid growing concern in Canberra that the issue was damaging relations between the two countries, the Prime Minister sought to reassure India that Australia was not a racist nation.

However, a new flashpoint emerged, with accusations by Indian students in Melbourne that Victorian police used excessive force to break up a rally calling for action over racial violence. In New Delhi, about 100 members of the Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing yesterday staged protests outside Australia's high commission before meeting briefly with Canberra's top envoy to India, John McCarthy.

Members of the BJP's hardline Hindu political ally, the Shiv Sena, also burned an effigy of Mr Rudd and reportedly staged protests outside a visa office in Mumbai.

Across the country Indian cable television networks continued to whip up frenzy over the attacks, showing footage of Victorian police dragging away Indian protesters who blockaded Melbourne streets until early yesterday.

Images from the Melbourne protest, which led to 18 arrests, were overlaid on Indian TV with extracts from Mr Rudd's statement to parliament on the issue yesterday, and photographs of student victims.

Mr Rudd warned parliament yesterday the student attacks could "impair" relations between India and Australia, but tried to reassure Indians that Australia was not a racist nation and was committed to the safety of all visitors.

The issue has sparked a diplomatic storm, prompting Mr Rudd to raise the issue with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last Friday night during a phone call to congratulate him on his re-election.

Mr Rudd told Mr Singh that the 97,000 Indian students in Australia were "welcome guests" and the 200,000 Australians of Indian descent were "welcome members of the Australian family".

The Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Trade Minister Simon Crean have held similar discussions with their Indian counterparts. "I speak on behalf of all Australians when I say that we deplore and condemn these attacks," Mr Rudd said.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said attacks on Indian students were an "absolute disgrace" and "un-Australian".

Indian cable networks have been running almost blanket coverage of the attacks under sensational headlines such as "Racism Beyond Shame" and "Racist Australia".

Indian newspapers have also been leading their front pages with news of the assaults, together with allegations that Melbourne police used unnecessary force on weekend protesters.

Victorian police said the use of force was appropriate, and blamed a group of "rabble-rousers" for hijacking the demonstration.

Demonstrators in India said Australians in the country need not fear violent retaliation. But BJP youth wing president Amit Thaker warned that his group would hold more protests and take further action if "the wrong acts are not stopped".

Indian blogs have taken an increasingly hysterical tone in recent days, with one even suggesting "Australians in India should be dragged on to the streets, stripped and beaten so badly they forget their names. That's the only way to teach these thugs and criminals."

Worryingly for Australia, the issue has the potential to cut Indian student enrolments by as much as 20 per cent, said Andrew Holloway, vice-president of Victoria University with responsibility for international students.

A Sydney-based Indian education recruiting agent, Rupesh Singh, said his admissions office in Gujarat had reported a 30-40 per cent drop in applications over the past fortnight.

The number of Indian students in Australia has boomed over the past five years, from 30,000 to 97,000.

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URL : http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25573550-601,00.html