The police have promised to “come down as hard as we need to” but Amar Singh of Turbans for Australia said: “They are targeting our community.”  The Australian Alliance Against Hate and Violence held a press conference on the threat that Hindu far-right extremism poses.

SYDNEY -The Australian Government has threatened deportations of “criminal” Indians in the country following four attacks on the Sikh community ahead of the March 15 roundtable in Australian Parliament to highlight concerns about Delhi’s heavy-handedness and suppression of dissent in dealing with the farmers’ legitimate demands.

It all started with a pro-farm Bill rally billed as “Tiranga Yatra” followed by another that provocatively stopped in front of a gurdwara. In both cases, the organisers and members of the Sikh community traded charges of intimidation. 

In the next two incidents, there was no doubt about the targeted community. In one instance, a Sikh youth was chased on the streets and in the latest incident, a group of Sikh men fled a gang, who smashed their car with bats and hammers while they were still inside. 

The police has promised to “come down as hard as we need to” but Amar Singh of Turbans for Australia said: “They are targeting our community.” 

The Australian Alliance Against Hate and Violence has held a press conference on the threat that Hindu far-right extremism poses.

The incident was captured in security cameras, showing the four men fleeing a gang who smashed up their car with bats and hammers while they were still inside

A group of Indian Sikhs said that they were attacked with baseball bats and hammers by some unidentified compatriots in Sydney amid growing tensions within the Indian community in Australia over farming laws in India, according to a media report.

In Sydney’s Harris Park, a group of unidentified men pulled out hammers, baseball bats and wooden sticks, stopping a car and attacking the vehicle as the terrified men inside tried to get away, the 7NEWS channel reported.

“They bashed the car from all sides,” a victim was quoted as saying by the channel.

 “Anyone could’ve got killed.”    

The man believes he and his friends were targeted because of their turbans, the report said.

The incident was captured in security cameras, showing the four men fleeing a gang who smashed up their car with bats and hammers while they were still inside. The victims escaped but were chased and attacked again, the channel said.

The attack left the car with more than 10,000 Australian dollars in damages, with a windscreen smashed in multiple places and also deep gouges into the car’s panelling, it added.

“What’s concerning though is that these men alleged they were targeted because of their beliefs,” the channel said.

According to the channel, increased police patrols and threats of deportation are on the table as authorities work to stamp out fighting between Indian groups on the streets of Sydney.

“Disagreements over farming laws in India have seen a rising violence here with one side now claiming they were targeted by a gang wielding bats and hammers,” the channel said.

In part of Sydney’s Sikh community, there has been growing tensions, and fights between them and the Indian government supporters over the farming laws back home, according to the media report.

“It is racial profiling…There has been lately a lot of this stuff, pro-government supporters targeting our community,” said Amar Singh, from Turbans 4 Australia.

Police have been holding meetings with community leaders calling for calm while exact motives behind this latest violence are being investigated, the report said.

Police are investigating whether the incident was a result of racial and political tension. They are still trying to identify those men involved and are asking for anyone who might have information to come forward, the report added.

“We are coming down hard to make sure there is no further violence,” Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell said.

“It is a small minority. But my message to them is under no circumstances will the NSW Police tolerate it,” Thurtell added.

The Australian Alliance Against Hate and Violence held a press conference outside the Consul General of India this week and offered support for the agitating farmers in India.