Big B rejects Australian honour
- IndiaGlitz, [Monday,June 01 2009]
On the wake of fresh attacks on Indian students in Australia, Amithabh Bachchan has rejected an award that he was conferred upon by and Australian University. The Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane had recently honoured the veteran actor with an honour for the actorÂs contribution to the world of cinema, which Mr. Bachchan had initially accepted.
Big B was to receive the honour in July in a felicitation that was to take place in Brisbane, Australia. But the actor has been shocked at the fate of Indian students who were attacked in Australia and has politely rejected the honour. He has written in his blog:
I have been witnessing with great dismay and shock, the recent violent attacks on Indian students in Australia, on the electronic media the entire day,
I mean no disrespect to the Institution that honours me, but under the present circumstances, where citizens of my own country are subjected to such acts of inhuman horror, my conscience does not permit me to accept this decoration from a country that perpetrates such indignity to my fellow countrymen, he actor added.
One of the injured, Shravan Kumar who hails from Andra Pradesh was attacked by screw drivers by some teenagers and is battling for his life.
There have been sporadic insidents of Indian students being attacked, the latest of which is a petrol bomb being hurled at an IndianÂs flat. Saurabh SharmaÂs room mate wrapped him in a blanket and admitted him in a hospital. Saurabh is said to have suffered 30% burns to his body.
Indian students who have so far considered Australia as a save haven to study no longer believe so due to the recent nightmarish incidents they have had to face.