Indian students in Australia have vowed to fight back against a series of callous attacks they have blamed on racists.

Furious demonstrators have rallied in Sydney and Melbourne, where dozens of assaults have been reported in the past year.

"People got stabbed in their houses, on train stations, on the street and there were petrol bombs thrown on people's cars," said Gautam Gupta, the founder of the Federation of Indian Students of Australia. He accused the authorities of being "too slow" to respond to the violence.

"We have no reason to believe they are not racist attacks," Mr Gupta told the BBC.

"Whenever they are attacking they always use the words 'Indians, go back'," he said.

"It would be insulting to all the good people of Australia to say the country is racist. There are racist elements and we will fight with them."