{"id":219092,"date":"2025-09-11T20:49:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T20:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/219092\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T20:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T20:49:23","slug":"indian-australians-respond-to-being-targets-of-abuse-after-negative-political-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/219092\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Australians respond to being targets of abuse after negative political attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the day thousands of demonstrators marched across Australia protesting against “mass immigration”, Indian Australian gynaecologist Nisha Khot donned her red and black saree and went to the cinema.<\/p>\n

There she was joined by other Indian doctors, also clad in sarees.<\/p>\n

It was, she says, a show of strength.<\/p>\n

“[The rallies] were happening in our city in Melbourne \u2026 we were all feeling targeted in a sense because the rallies had been about Indians coming here,” Dr Khot said.<\/p>\n

“We felt like we needed to have solidarity with each other and feel like, ‘Actually, we are here. We provide a really useful service in Australia.’<\/p>\n

“The reality is that Australian healthcare relies on overseas-trained doctors, a large proportion of whom come from the subcontinent.”<\/p>\n

Indian community feeling ‘uneasy’<\/p>\n

It has been nearly two weeks since the “March for Australia” rally,<\/a> but the Indian Australian population continues to feel uneasy over the direct targeting of the diaspora in promotional material<\/a> on the organisers’ website.<\/p>\n

It remains a hot topic of discussion on social media, with views ranging from “disappointment” to feeling “hypervigilant”.<\/p>\n

Matters were also compounded by comments Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price made in an ABC interview last week, suggesting that the Albanese government was prioritising Indian migrants<\/a> likely to vote for Labor.<\/p>\n

Senator Nampijinpa Price has tried to appease the Indian Australian community, telling The Australia Today,<\/a> popular with the Indian diaspora, about her connections to the subcontinent.<\/p>\n

However, she refused to apologise for the remarks, and after she declined to voice support for Sussan Ley’s leadership, <\/a>she was dumped from the frontbench.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Amit Sarwal says the anti-migration rallies had a white agenda. (Supplied: The Australia Today)<\/p>\n

Amit Sarwal, co-founder of The Australia Today, said despite the sacking, it was still important for Senator Nampijinpa Price to offer a “genuine apology to the Indian community”.<\/p>\n

“An apology in good faith would go beyond politics \u2014 it would acknowledge the hurt caused, show genuine regret, and contribute to healing within Indian-Australia’s multicultural communities,” Dr Sarwal said.<\/p>\n

“I think apologising would also allow the matter to be put behind, enabling all parties to move forward and focus on building a stronger, more cohesive future.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rally brings up anger and fear<\/p>\n

Pawan Luthra, chief executive of Indian Link Media Group, said the negative attention on Australia’s Indian diaspora in recent weeks was “hurting” the community.<\/p>\n

Australia’s Neo-Nazis have had an unadulterated propaganda win<\/a><\/p>\n

Australia’s Neo-Nazis sought to make their own message out of anti-immigration marches, and they succeeded.<\/p>\n

“A young mother called me up and told me about how her 15-year-old son was targeted in the school yard, something which he had never experienced in six years in Australia,” he told ABC News Radio.<\/p>\n

“So, community members are hurting because of the spotlight that is on this issue.”<\/p>\n

Another Indian Australian woman wrote to the ABC saying she had “never seen so much negative attention directed towards our community”.<\/p>\n

“I’m part of two major diasporas and I don’t have to choose one over the other. We’re all humans and stereotypes are just that; they don’t reflect everyone, nor do they just apply to one group,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Slightly<\/p>\n

Nadeem Ahmed says racism on social media is a problem. (Supplied: Nadeem Ahmed)<\/p>\n

Nadeem Ahmed runs the Indians in Sydney group and pages on Facebook and Instagram. He said that since the rallies, the level of racist comments had increased on the group’s public page.<\/p>\n

Mr Ahmed urged Indians to support newly arrived migrants and international students as they were the most vulnerable among the diaspora.<\/p>\n

“All Indian Australians, regardless of background or belief, we should choose dialogue over division and keep our political views very constructive and focus on unity,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.<\/p>\n

“And at the same time, we all need to embrace Australia for what it has given us. It is a beautiful country.”<\/p>\n

\"Smiling<\/p>\n

Pooja Vrat Gupta says she discovered her love of nature in Australia. (Supplied: Pooja Vrat Gupta)<\/p>\n

Pooja Vrat Gupta, a childcare educator who has been in Australia for six years, said Australia would not be the same without the support of Indians and other migrant communities.<\/p>\n

“From lower-level jobs to higher professional roles, Indians are everywhere. You really can’t think about the Australian economy without Indians because we play such an important role,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ms Vrat Gupta said.<\/p>\n

“When I think about these rallies, I also remember that even the people protesting are not the original owners of this land \u2014 their ancestors were migrants too.”<\/p>\n

\"Pooja<\/p>\n

Pooja Vrat Gupta says she was not too perturbed by the anti-immigration rally. (Supplied: Pooja Vrat Gupta)<\/p>\n

Surgeon considers leaving Australia<\/p>\n

However, a surgeon, who did not want to use his name due to fear of reprisals, said that since the rally, he had been seriously thinking about leaving Australia.<\/p>\n

“On the very day an anti-immigration rally was being held, I was working for 20 hours, saving the lives of Caucasian patients,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.<\/p>\n

“My entire team was made up of immigrants from various countries.<\/p>\n

“Yet despite this, I find myself afraid in this country. After years of service, I feel I do not belong here.”<\/p>\n

The surgeon said he felt deeply disappointed.<\/p>\n

“I am now considering moving back to India or to the Middle East, where the pay is higher and, more importantly, respect is greater,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Discrimination is not always about skin colour \u2014 it is about being made to feel like an outsider, no matter how much you give.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No place to call home\"James<\/p>\n

James O’Donnell says the wider environment impacts on a person’s sense of place. (Supplied: Jamie Kidston\/ANU)<\/p>\n

Australian National University demographer James O’Donnell is the author of Melbourne’s Scanlon Foundation study that maps social cohesion and prejudice towards groups from different immigrant backgrounds.<\/p>\n

Dr O’Donnell said, though it was hard to pinpoint how broader social trends, like the March for Australia, might affect migrants’ sense of belonging, the external environment did have an impact.<\/p>\n

“One of the strongest predictors that we see of someone who’s born overseas coming to Australia \u2026 of their sense of belonging, especially over time, is whether they’ve experienced discrimination,” he said.<\/p>\n

“And, so, people who say they’ve experienced discrimination personally are much less likely to say that they have a sense of belonging.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, he said, often the everyday interactions could leave a lasting impact.<\/p>\n

“Often, it’s the sort of more everyday casual othering that goes on for many people who come to Australia \u2014 whether it’s constant questions about where you’re from or what accent is that,” Dr O’Donnell said.<\/p>\n

“Often, from the other person’s perspective, it’s not meant to be othering per se, but that’s the effect that it has on other people because it constantly reminds them that somehow they don’t belong here.”<\/p>\n

\"Serious<\/p>\n

Nisha Khot says people appreciate the work that she does for the Australian community. (Supplied: Nisha Khot)<\/p>\n

Dr Khot, who is the president-elect of the Royal Australian New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, has been in Australia for 15 years.<\/p>\n

But it was her husband’s work \u2014 a haematologist, who focuses on improving treatment for aggressive blood cancers at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre \u2014 that brought the family here.<\/p>\n

Dr Khot said the contrast between how the rallies made her feel and how she was treated at work was stark.<\/p>\n

“People appreciate the work that I do,” Dr Khot said.<\/p>\n

I have never at work been made to feel like I don’t belong.<\/p>\n

“[The targeting of Indian migrants] \u2026 was coming from people who don’t know me, who I don’t know, who suddenly make you question whether you belong or not. And that is what hurts.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the day thousands of demonstrators marched across Australia protesting against “mass immigration”, Indian Australian gynaecologist Nisha Khot…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":219093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[119511,4740,119514,119512,409,119510,119516,114846,54696,113395,50,119515,19500,119513],"class_list":{"0":"post-219092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-anti-immigrant-rallies","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-australian-national-university-demographer-james-odonnell","11":"tag-dr-nisha-khot","12":"tag-immigration","13":"tag-indian-australian","14":"tag-indian-link-media-group","15":"tag-jacinta-price","16":"tag-multiculturalism","17":"tag-neo-nazis","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-pawan-luthra","20":"tag-racism","21":"tag-the-australia-today"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115187638802197771","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}