Cong asks PM to stop US racial attacks on Indians; Modi quiet

The issue of alleged racial attack on an Indian man in Australia was on Monday raised in the Lok Sabha by the Congress which sought the Prime Minister's intervention in ensuring the safety of large Indian population there.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the safety of overseas Indians was a matter of priority for the government and it will not leave any stone unturned in ensuring their safety. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Congress MP K C Venugopal said Indian-origin taxi driver from Kerala, Li Max Joy, was assaulted in Australia's Tasmania state and added that such attacks were on the rise in that country. Venugopal said it was a racial attack as the assaulters had hurled abuses like "you bloody black Indians" at him.

Joy, who is pursuing a nursing course and working as a part-time taxi driver in Australia, alleged that five people including a girl hurled racial abuses and assaulted him at a restaurant in North Hobart.