Attacks on Indians: Aus vows to punish culprits

I / Melbourne February 09, 2010, 14:44 IST

Under mounting pressure over attacks on Indians, Australia today acknowledged that some of the recent violence against them had clearly been "racially motivated" and vowed to "punish the culprits with the full force of law".

Stating that the attacks had "considerably damaged" the nation's reputation, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told the Parliament that "if any of these attacks have been racist in nature -- and it seems clear that some of them have -- they will be punished with the full force of law".

Smith said the attacks which have included robberies and beatings are "inexcusable" and were being taken very seriously by the government.

The foreign minister intervened on the matter after the government came in for a sharp attack from the opposition which accused the Victorian government of failing to tackle the racist attacks on Indians.

Even Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that he was worried over the narration by his Asian-origin son-in-law of racisms in Australia. Rudd said that his government's efforts were aimed at improving safety of foreign students who worked late at night.

Leaders and officials in Australian had earlier downplayed racism as a motive for attacks on Indians, which have triggered outrage in India.