Highlights
- Indian Australian Council candidates allege they are being bullied online
- Candidates claim it is putting their young families under stress
- Council to discuss the matter in a meeting scheduled on August 11
Local resident, Rishi Prabhakar announced his candidature for the council elections in the first week of July.
'Since then I have been a target of vicious attacks via fake profiles on social media on my looks, dressing, and even mannerisms," Mr Prabhakar told SBS Hindi.
"Every weekend they start making fun of me on things that are not related to the election. My family members started receiving these posts on their social media accounts which is very stressful,” Mr Prabhakar said.
“When I could not take it anymore I decided to put it in the public domain and requested the local community to help. I am lucky that not only Indian but most communities stood by me in this difficult time.
Source: Supplied
“We are a multicultural society. People of all colours, religion, cultural backgrounds have an equal place but such comments leave you shattered,” Mr Prabhakar said.
Another candidate, Bobby Lakhra who has been running his own business in the Wyndham council area since 14 years claims he too has been targetted online.
Mr Lakhra told SBS Hindi, “As soon as I announced that I will be a candidate in council elections personal attacks started coming my way.”
“They started picking on my language, my appearance, and even my food habits. My business was the target of mockery, my family members locked their social media accounts to avoid this cyberbullying.”
Source: Supplied
Prabhjot Singh, a long time resident of Wyndham Council was offended when he saw a poster with a Sikh man mocking candidates.
“I contacted the admins of the social media group and explained how and why it was derogatory and disrespectful to the Sikh community at large,” said Mr Singh.
“They not only deleted the posts but also banned the person who was putting racist comments and pictures.”
Matter to be discussed at council meeting
Intaj Khan, a two-time councillor of Wyndham City Council said cyberbullying had become a common practice on council's social media pages.
“Cyberbullying and racist comments have become a common practice in Wyndham councils social media pages. It’s important to take action and report such accounts to the e-safety commissions office,” Mr Khan said.
Mr Khan said the matter will be discussed at a council meeting in August.
“I have given a notice of motion to Wyndham City Council, which will be discussed on 11 of August 2020. I hope the council can formulate some mechanisms to keep its residents safe from cyberbullying and online racist attacks.”
Melbourne-based lawyer, Molina Swaroop Asthana who is also the Victoria state convenor of the Asian Australian Alliance told SBS Hindi, “People think racism is only publicly abusing/harassing someone for their origin, language, or food habits.”
“Everyone should understand racism can be subtle by just joking/mocking about different factors of someone's life. And they should be reported.”
“If you see something do something. I would like to request everyone to stand for themselves and seek help from appropriate agencies. If you witness such online or offline racist or cyberbullying please report, it will help us break the cycle, said Ms Asthana.
