Aussie dream gone sour for Indian students?

New Delhi, Melbourne: Shravan Kumar, a 23-year-old student studying in Australia is in coma, fighting for his life. He was attacked with a screwdriver, which pierced his head, when two people gatecrashed a party on Saturday thrashing the students present there. On Thursday, his home was burgled.

So, why is there a sudden surge in attacks against Indians in Australia? Why are an increasing number of young Indian students targets of racist attacks ?

There seem to be no straight answers.

But on a day that Australia severely condemned the attacks and arrested two Australian teenagers for attacking Saurabh Sharma, a 21-year-old Indian student, there is horrific news of 2 more attacks against Indians.

Twenty-five-year-old Baljinder Singh, an Indian studying in Melbourne, had left Carnegie station when he was stabbed. The young man pleaded, he told the police.

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"I just wanted to save my life and yelled 'just don't kill me'. They just laughed when they stabbed me in the stomach," he recalled.

At the same time, Rajesh Kumar, a hotel management student in Sydney was at his home when a petrol bomb was hurled at him. He is in hospital with 30 per cent burns.

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The nightmare for Indians is simply refusing to end.

Sravan Kumar, the young man brutally beaten on Saturday is still in coma fighting for his life. His friends and family desperately hoping he will make it. On Thursday, the house where Shravan lived with his friends was burgled.

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"At this juncture we would like the Government to intervene in this matter to provide better treatment to save his life and simultaneously for the visit of his parents to look after their badly injured son at this juncture," said Srinivasu Theerthala, Uncle of Shravan.

Down under, the government says it is doing all it can.

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There has been intensification of police effort in this area. A hotline has been set up for counselling students both in English and Hindi. A group is being set up by the federal government with student reps to answer such issues, not just for India but all foreign students," said John McCarthy, High Commissioner, Australia.

But for the hundreds of Indians, who go to Australia hoping to get a good education and a better future, it is a dream gone sour.