An Indian migrant says he was shocked to find a racist note on his car outside a shopping centre in Melbourne’s southeast.
Twenty-four-year-old Onkar Singh had just finished his shift at a fast food restaurant in Mentone shopping centre on Tuesday night when he found a handwritten note on his Mazda’s windscreen that read: “Indians Go Back Home Now”.
“I first thought it was a parking ticket because I got one last month too. But this note was actually shocking,” he told SBS Punjabi.
Mr Singh found this note on his car on Tuesday night. Source: Supplied
In February this year, another Indian migrant found a similar flyer stuck to his car in the same way when he was shopping in the neighbouring suburb of Moorabbin.
That flyer read “Asians out, Indians out, Australia is full."
The incident was condemned by Australia’s then race discrimination commissioner, Dr Tim Soutphommasane.
“This kind of racist intimidation must be rejected and condemned. It mustn’t be allowed to become part of what is deemed normal or acceptable,” Dr Soutphommasane told .
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also said there was no place for racism in Australia.
Mr Singh says he has never faced racism before in the four years since he has been in Australia, but now fears he may have been deliberately targeted.
The style and handwriting on both the notes were almost identical.
The note left on an Indian migrant's car in February (left) and the one Mr Singh found on his car on Tuesday night (right). Source: Supplied
“I don’t know why someone would do that, but whoever it is, they know about me and know my nationality,” he says.
Mr Singh says he fears this may not be the end of it.
Onkar Singh says he is shocked at the racist note left on his car. Source: Supplied
“It’s clear from the handwriting that it’s exactly the same person who did this before. Today he has left it on my car, I am concerned tomorrow he may damage my car or something else,” he says.
“I am going to report it to the police and the Human Rights Commission.”
Mr Singh says his car was parked at a spot that’s not covered by surveillance cameras.
