The campaign comes after the repeated assaults on Indian taxi drivers in Melbourne and months of attacks on Indian students, some fatal.
A Melbourne web designer’s Internet campaign to protest attacks against Indian citizens in Australia, “Vindaloo Against Violence”, has turned into a runaway success.
According to reports, more than 10,000 people have signed up on the Internet for Mia Northrop’s campaign, some from as far away as New York.
The campaign comes after the repeated assaults on Indian taxi drivers in Melbourne and months of attacks on Indian students, some fatal.
Northrop estimates that at least 15,000 people will eat at their local Indian restaurants on February 24 to denounce violence and show solidarity with the Indian community.
The 35-year-old recalled how the idea came to her three weeks ago, when she and her husband wondered how they might let the Indian community know that “we're not indifferent to what's going on”.
“We talked about the idea of a flash mob [assembling via SMS to perform in a public place]. Then we thought: ‘Imagine if on one night thousands of people did this kind of decentralised flash mob and all turned up to Indian restaurants as a way of embracing the Indian community and showing solidarity’?” The Age quoted Northrop, as saying.
Northrop further said that she had set up a website, a Facebook page and a Twitter account to promote the mass dining event, and the response has been “absolutely overwhelmed”.
“I'm under no illusion that this is going to solve racism or stop attacks. It's a small gesture, but when it's made by thousands of people simultaneously, I think it sends a really powerful message,” Northrop said.
Dinners will be held in Amsterdam, Thailand, Malaysia and all Australian capital cities.
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