Australian Police?

VICTORIA'S police association has fired back at an Indian cartoonist who depicted members of the force as white supremacists, calling his artwork "highly offensive" and "outrageous".

The cartoon, published in Tuesday's edition of Delhi's Mail Today, shows an Australian police officer dressed in a white hood as a member of the Ku Klux Klan, saying: "We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime".

The cartoon was in response to homicide investigators in Victoria stating they could not yet say if the murder of 21-year-old Indian student Nitin Garg in a Melbourne park was racially motivated.

Greg Davies, secretary of Victoria's Police Association, said the cartoon was "stupid" and unhelpful.
"Cartoons in Australia are normally done by people who are either clever or witty and this one's neither," he told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.

"All it does is stir racial hatred amongst Indians, certainly in India and, one would imagine, some of them here."

He said the cartoon was "highly offensive", especially to homicide squad detectives who are working tirelessly to catch Mr Garg's killer and determine a motive for the late-night stabbing.

"To suggest that there's any sort of `go slow' in an investigation into this tragic murder because of a racial reason is just outrageous," Mr Davies said.

Mr Davies said if he had the chance to speak with the cartoonist he would tell him the art work should never have been published.

Mr Garg's murder has sparked a renewed debate about the safety of foreign students in Australia.
Some local Indian leaders say racism is a significant issue for Indians who study in Australia.

Victorian Police Minister Bob Cameron dismissed the cartoon as an unneeded distraction from a major crime investigation.

"We are a tolerant place and Victorian police are very tolerant and this business about racism is just wrong," he told Fairfax Radio on Friday.

"Police go about their business in a normal way.

"They get the evidence, they assess the evidence ... to accuse police of having a closed mind when, in fact, what police have said is 'we have an open mind to all possibilities' just demonstrates that this is totally off the table when it comes to common sense."

The Indian government has predicted the attack will affect relations between the two countries, and although it has ruled out sanctions, it has once again pressed Australia to ensure the safety of its citizens.

Victoria Police has declined to comment on the cartoon controversy.

SOURCE