Disclosure

[seeingred]

I was flailing about trying to say something intelligent about the weekend murder of Indian student Nitan Garg when I came across an op-ed in the SMH by Gerard Henderson. It put what's bothering me into words better than I was managing:"The immediate response of Victoria Police to any suggestion that attacks on Indians are racially motivated is to

Comments

[hiraethin]

Cops rule out any motive suggested as a matter of procedure, to avoid prejudicing any future jury, to avoid media beat-ups, and to avoid potential criticism. "No evidence to suggest" is a useful phrase for this. In the absence of a statement from a good witness or suspect, they have no indication that racism is a factor.

[kateorman]

If you follow the link, you'll see that the commissioner says exactly that about this specific crime; but also that he says race is not a factor in crimes against Indians overall.