Senior Indian community leaders are joining calls for an embattled Liberal senator to apologise for inflammatory comments, inviting her to meet with the diaspora.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is being urged to say sorry for comments insinuating Labor was bringing in more Indian migrants to bolster its vote as the furore continues to divide her party.
She walked back the comments, saying there was no discriminatory immigration policy but insisted she had nothing to apologise for.
It’s stirred anger within the Indian diaspora which was already facing heightened racism following nationwide anti-immigration protests that singled out the community.
“The whole Indian community has a fear in mind at the moment because of the protest,” United Indian Associations president John Kennedy told AAP.
“When they make a comment and it is wrong, they should apologise, that’s very important.”
He said he would welcome Senator Nampijinpa Price and encouraged her to meet with the community.
“I think the government has to do something, because they have to bring confidence in people to say that they are safe to live here,” he said.
An apology would be welcomed, but the root cause of racism needed to be addressed through education, Australian Hindu Multicultural Association president Sajana Nand said.
“I feel very strongly, there shouldn’t be any room for racism,” he told AAP.
“We need to find the source of where this mentality is developing and we should nip it in the bud.
“It’s brewing up now and I don’t know where it’s going to end up. It’s ruining the cordial environment we have been enjoying, we’re fortunate to be living in Australia.”
India Club president Shubha Kumar called for the senator’s resignation or expulsion from the Liberal Party, saying the comments were “so ignorant about the Indian community”.
“A public apology definitely must be taken,” she told AAP.
“I’m so shocked, we came 50 years ago and we have never experienced these things we’re seeing now.”
Indians were “very energetic, peace loving migrants” who focus on community and family values, she stressed.
“And they integrate so very well in the community and … are very hard working.”
Ms Kumar said the community was intelligent and insinuations Indian migrants were told how to vote was “very naive”.
Senator Nampijinpa Price again doubled down on the rhetoric during a Sky News interview, saying the comments were about mass migration and Labor “aggressively court the migrant community as they do the Indigenous community”.
Ms Kumar demanded a full retraction as opposed to Senator Price’s clarifications.
“The way she is going now, she is trying to justify her comments, which is really not acceptable at all,” she said.
Ms Kumar said she would welcome the senator meeting with the community but only if she was going to offer a sincere apology.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has been holding her own roundtables with Indian diaspora and NSW colleagues, including Opposition Leader Mark Speakman in Sydney.
Senator Nampijinpa Price didn’t attend the roundtables or community events and Ms Ley has refused to issue a public apology on her behalf, instead saying the comments were wrong and had been corrected.
The opposition leader said the community expressed the hurt and harm they felt at the comments but they also understood they were valued by the Liberal Party.
“I know that the senator is listening to the Indian community and hearing their words directly in many instances and I think that is important,” she told reporters in Glenellen.
Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser went further, issuing an apology at a community event in his Sydney electorate on Monday night.
“It pains me to say it, but I feel like I have to say it. My colleague Jacinta Price said something this week that I want to apologise unreservedly for,” Mr Leeser said in the video.
“Let me say very clearly, the contribution of Indian Australians to this country is fantastic. The Indian community is fantastic.”
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