I had the privilege to attend a garden party hosted by the Hon. Philip Ruddock, to celebrate his 39 years in Parliament. Philip has been associated with and been a long term friend of the AISV and he celebrated this event at a beautiful property called 'Dunrath', in West Pennant Hills in NSW. Amongst the invitees there were five other local Indian community leaders. The Premier of NSW, the Hon. Barry O'Farrell, was a special guest.

Though it was a celebratory party, the Premier, in his speech, blasted the leaders of the Muslim riots and vowed to use the full force of the law to punish the people responsible so as to deter others from partaking in any such organised riots ever again.

The leader of the opposition, The Hon. Tony Abbott has said about the rioters, quote, 'you can bring your heritage with you but you must leave your hatred behind'. I feel strongly that this is a very appropriate message for those communities who harbour old hatred and animosities and bring these along with them to Australia. Riots do not resolve anything and though the hurt and damage caused by these riots has almost died down, the offending film is still on 'You Tube'. In this respect nothing has changed. I have not seen the offending film and I believe the producer of the film has now been arrested, not for producing the offending film but for breach of his parole, suggesting that he has had a criminal past.

Last year, a local fashion designer in Australia had printed the pictures of the Goddess Lakshmi-a highly revered Hindu goddess of wealth - on her bikini tops and pants. The placement of the pictures was very offensive to all Indians. A simple phone call to the fashion designer airing our concerns brought on a quick apology and withdrawal of the offending product from the shops. The problem was resolved very quickly and without any street protests.

Incidents such as these will occur from time to time and I feel it is difficult for any government to control the action of any one individual responsible for such incidents. There cannot be any world legislation passed to prevent blasphemy. We need to stay calm and try to peacefully negotiate to have the offensive material removed from public view as deemed necessary.




Dr. Gurdip Aurora
President AISV