Months after anti-immigration protests swept Australia, attacks on the Indian diaspora continue unabated. Recently, a 22-year-old Sikh nurse was left with a broken nose after being brutally thrashed in a racial attack in Melbourne’s Geelong. The incident happened on Tuesday night at a gym in Corio.
Harmanpreet Singh said he was confronted by three men while he was training inside the gym at about 11 pm. It was followed by verbal abuse. Little did Harmanpreet know that the ordeal had just begun.
‘GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM’
As he left the gym, he found the trio waiting outside for him. Harmanpreet said he was called an “Indian dog” and told to “go back to where you came from”. Soon, one of the men banged his head on his nose. Blood oozed out profusely.
“He got really close to my face and then just got really back and hit his head on my nose,” Harmanpreet told Australian media, 9News. The trio then fled the spot.
Harmanpreet was taken to a hospital by the locals. He is likely to undergo surgery. Speaking to the media, the nurse said he was still traumatised by the incident and the abuse.
“Nobody wants to hear it. Especially when you’re just minding your own business,” he further said.
This is not the first time that Harmanpreet has been a target of racial abuse in Australia. But the recent incident has had a big mental impact. The Sikh man’s sister, Khushi Kaur, said the family was deeply shaken.
“I try to keep myself strong, not care about such things, but it hurts,” he said. “I don’t know if I am going to go back to the gym… I am not going to feel safe after this,” Harmanpreet further said.
RISE IN RACIST ATTACKS
The incident comes amid a rise in racism against the Indian community. It escalated after the anti-immigration March for Australia rallies last year. Earlier this month, multiple businesses owned by Indian-Australians were targeted by thieves.
Similar attacks targeting Sikh and Hindu temples, including the vandalisation of the Shree Swaminarayan Hindu temple in Melbourne, have triggered panic among the community members.
