Jalandhar: Bereaved Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has urged the Indian government to strongly pursue the matter of alleged racial attacks on Indian students in Australia following the death of his nephew under mysterious circumstances Down Under.
Harbhajan also demanded an independent probe into the death of his nephew in Thornburry, Victoria, claiming Upkar Singh was a victim of racial attack and could not have committed suicide as informed to them by the Australian authorities.
"Indian government should take up the issue of racial attacks in an effective manner with its Australian counterpart and ensure the safety of Indian youth, living on the foreign land," Bhajii said from England, where he went to participate in World T20 Championship.
"Our loss is a big loss and it is difficult to recover from it, but I don't want this to happen with anyone else so government should ensure safety to our brothers and sisters living there," he said.
Harbhajan insisted that the 26-year-old Upkar, who used to run a taxi in Australia, was very happy there and could not have committed suicide. The off-spinner said there was no injury mark on Upkar's body, barring a mark of blow on his forehead.
"I want justice to my family in the form of independent probe into the cause of death of my nephew, so that the case could be taken to its logical conclusion," Harbhajan added.
The star player alleged that Australian authorities have not yet disclosed the cause of Upkar's death.
"Earlier, we were informed by the Australian authorities that my nephew Upkar Singh committed suicide but in the death certificate, they mentioned the cause of death is yet to be established.
"Moreover, our family cannot believe on the suicide theory, as Upkar was quite happy in Australia and was almost settled there," he added.
Referring to the massive demonstrations organised by Indian students at Melbourne, Harbhajan said it was Indian and Australian Governments' duty to ensure safety of Indians.
Recalling his days on Australian grounds, the off-spinner revealed that even he used to be abused by the crowd there.
"In the ground, I had to face abusive language from the crowd stands, but outside ground, nothing of this sort happened with me," he said.
"But the recent racial attacks were very serious and Indian government should take it seriously to save about 10 to 15 thousands Indian students living there," he said.
Upkar's body was found lying on the railway track near Thornburry Station in Victoria state of Australia on May 7 and it was sent back to India on May 14 and cremated on May 15 at Jalandhar.