No one is a born racist. The society conditions racists - its time society condemns them too!

In June 2013, the Indian and Australian media was agog with the news that in an apparently racist attack, yet another Indian in Australia was attacked. Twenty-two-year-old Himanshu Goyal was allegedly accosted by a group of youths shouting racist slogans and abuse and got punched in the face by one of the members in Ballarat near Melbourne while he was closing his Bridge Mall eatery. He suffered multiple facial fractures and was told by doctors that he would not able to eat for about 6 weeks. Despite the face-saving comments by Ballarat Mayor John Burt, needless to say, Australia got bad press in India again. Anti-Australia processions, Facebook comments and public ridicule with Indians showing disgust at the behaviour meted out by Australians became the norm.

A recent survey, however, seems to prove that Australians are not the only "racists" - Indians do racism pretty well too! A World Value Survey puts India as one of the top 5 most racist countries of the world. Racial hotbeds of the world include countries like Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Vietnam, Indonesia and South Korea. Other racially intolerant countries include France, Turkey, Bulgaria, Algeria, Morocco, Mali, Zambia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Hong Kong.

The data collected pertains to the question of whether you'd like a person of a different race living next to you as your neighbor. In India and in Jordan an overwhelming 40 per cent and more answered this question with a negative. While this may make for interesting headlines - perhaps one needs to look at this the research differently. In a country like India with a majority of rural populace; being racially intolerant is not considered a taboo - its part and parcel of life. Neither are Indians conditioned to reply to questions like these sensitively - upper caste Hindus would consider themselves dirtied if in proximity to lower caste Hindus, Dalit or even Muslims and would consider themselves true to their religion by saying or demonstrating their belief out loud. This is not true when it comes to the urban and metropolitan cities of India but in interior villages - the caste system and the racism originating from it is rampant, a lack of education and awareness being a prime reason behind it. The second reason comes from skin color - in India being fair puts a higher value on an individual than being dark - as is quite apparent from the media advertisements of various beauty products touted to making the user several shades lighter.

Even in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, there have been stray incidents of the more Mongloid-looking Indians from north-eastern states been targeted in racist attacks - to the extent of girls from states like Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur, being heckled and sexually molested sometimes even in full public view. It makes the news, and like the Australian government, the Indian government too promises strident measures, till the next incident.

This is not to say that the attacks in Australia don't need to be curbed or can be justified. In recent news in June and July, there has been a spate of verbal abuse and racism incidents specially on Australian public transport where even elderly Australians have taken to shameful racists attacks on unsuspecting bus riders. From a school boy being targeted by a middle-aged Australian woman to another 53-year-old Philippine immigrant being subjected to verbal abuse in front of a busload of passengers - racism in Australia, and India, needs to be nipped in the bud.