Overland defends use of force to move protesters

Attacks on Indian students in Australia threatened to damage relations between the nations, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned today, as he reassured the powerhouse Asian economy that its students were welcome here.

Mr Rudd's comments came as an Indian protester at the overnight blockade of Melbourne's city streets accused the police of "ramrodding'' protesters to break up their sit-in.

Mr Rudd said he had contacted his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, to reassure him that Australians "deplore and condemn" attacks against Indians in Australia.

Overland denies excessive force

Police Commissioner Simon Overland denies the police used excessive force to control a protest by Indians in Melbourne over the weekend.

"These are senseless acts of violence," Mr Rudd told Parliament this afternoon, adding that all would be done to ensure "the perpetrators of these acts are brought to justice".

"Australia is a country of great diversity, harmony and tolerance. We are a multicultural nation and we respect and embrace diversity - diversity which has enriched our nation,'' he said.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull told Parliament the attacks were an "absolute disgrace'' and "un-Australian''.

"As a country we are honoured that so many foreign students choose to undertake their tertiary education here in institutions right across the length and breadth of Australia,'' he said.

The Melbourne protest rally was organised by the Federation of Indian Students of Australia after a series of violent attacks on students they say are racially motivated.

Yogesh Malhotra, a banker, says about 200 police surrounded protesters and then moved in, six officers at a time on individual protesters, punching them while dragging them off the tram tracks outside Flinders Street Station about 5.10am.

"There was definitely an amount of excessive force by Victoria Police,'' Mr Malhotra told ABC Radio.

"(There were) six (police) to one guy who was sitting down peacefully, who was punched and dragged.''

Mr Malhotra said one officer had used an amplifier to ask protesters to move to Federation Square at 5.05am, but protesters had not been able to hear him clearly.

"While he was making his announcement we were already surrounded by 200 policeman and after a while... six of the guys (police), they came and they ramrodded one of the guys, they dragged him.''

He said police were "punching'' and "using pressure point tactics'' while dragging protesters away.

The protesters' concerns conflicted with police accounts of the operation.

Victorian Premier John Brumby called for calm after the rowdy protest.

Mr Brumby branded the attacks repugnant, but said they must be seen in perspective.

He said Victoria was still a safe destination for students by world standards.

"There have been some racially based attacks, and they're completely repugnant and unacceptable,'' Mr Brumby said.

"Having said that, we need to keep this in perspective, and that is that's in all the places that students can study around the world. Victoria would be amongst the very, very safest.

"Everybody should take a step back and just calm down now, I guess, just take a step back and we'll get on top of this issue.''

Mr Brumby met with the Indian High Commissioner and Consul General last week to discuss the issues of student bashings.

Earlier, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland defended the use of force to move demonstrators from the protest, which began yesterday at the Flinders and Swanston streets intersection at 2.30pm.

Mr Overland this morning told reporters the actions of police in breaking up the protest in Melbourne's CBD were "entirely justified".

"I watched the whole event - I didn't seen any inappropriate use of force," he said.

"Now in that, there were blows because many [of the protesters] had been linked and resistance was going on.

"If someone inadvertently got hit in the mouth, I regret that, but that came about from the actions of the demonstrators after they had been given every opportunity to leave the area."

Mr Overland said the protesters had "made their point" and been given repeated opportunities to disperse before police took action.

He said he had been given a petition by the Indian students with a range of requests, including increased police action and curbing binge-drinking.

The protests appeared to have been "hijacked" by a group of "rabble-rousers", Mr Overland said.

Protesters who were not Indian had joined the demonstration and some people were drunk, he said.

Mr Overland said one officer's hand was bitten during the protest.

"One of my officers was bitten on the hand and suffered an injury as a result of that,'' he said.

"There was some violence, it could have been a lot worse, but overall I think we got out of it quite well.''

One protester was arrested for assault and another charged on summons for throwing objects through windows at Flinders Street station on Sunday, he said.

"I think their demonstration was hijacked - it initially started as a peaceful demonstration,'' Mr Overland said.

"The organisers of that demonstration then left. There were other people who became involved, most of them weren't Indian. They were there for their own reasons, and I think the whole thing just got hijacked and got out of control.''

Police had to shut down the bottle shop at the Young and Jacksons hotel.

Victoria Police would send an officer to India to talk to people considering study in Australia.

Meanwhile, Swinburne University Student Union president Damian Ridgwell condemned police, claiming they mounted a "violent attack'' on "peaceful protesters''.

Mr Ridgwell said in a statement on Monday that one protester had been admitted to hospital after having "their thumb broken during the police attack''.

"I witnessed police officers stomp on a student's chest. Other police officers repeatedly punched students in the face,'' Mr Ridgwell said.

"A sitting protester was knocked unconscious by repeated punches to the head by a policeman.

"At least one baton was drawn and used to smash a protester's legs, while the front row of students was threatened with capsicum spray.''