Performances of Multiculturalism: South Asian Communities in Sydney

PERFORMANCES OF MULTICULTURALISM: SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITIES IN SYDNEY

CHRISTOPHER HARTNEY

Abstract

South Asian communities in Sydney, as elsewhere, are continually struggling to position themselves between their own religious tradition and the generally secular but increasingly multicultural host society. As a general concept multiculturalism is almost undisputedly recog- nised as a social good amongst Australians. In more specific regards however, seeking to become part of a neighbourhood that is accept- ing of cultural and religious difference can be an entirely different issue. This paper examines the recorded performance, through media and other sources, of a number of South Asian Australian religious communities settling in Sydney. These communities, controversial in some regard, reveal many of the negotiations that contribute to both the history of the South Asian diaspora in this city and also, allow an examination of the confrontations and ameliorations of various atti- tudes from the Diaspora and from Australians in general. Three Hin- du and one Sikh community are briefly examined in this light.

Introduction

Sydney has become a microcosm of the religious life of the world and almost every religious tradition, ancient and modern, is represented by the hundreds of communities that dot the suburbs. South Asian communities have played a vital role in the diversification of cultural and religious influences in the life of this island nation of a mere 20 million people. The increasingly “universal” nature of Sydney has been created out of, and in spite of, an isolationist and racist history. Australian federal immigration policy played the most central role in restricting South Asian immigration from 1901 until the 1960s. The policy itself was a reflection of the ideal of an homogenised white Aus- tralia. Since the overturning of this ideal, and as communities continue to establish markers of their cultural difference (purpose-built 436   places of worship being the most obvious manifestation of this difference and so the main focus of this study), tensions in the suburbs between various communities and the general community continue to highlight the struggles that strain the multicultural process. South Asian-Australian communities are not alone in negotiating the trials that beset religions seemingly “new” to Sydney. Through a thorough examination of the events, public debates and controversies concern- ing South Asian Australians (what I have termed the outward “performance” of a community) and how this performance is received in the wider community, we can see how the negotiations, misunder- standings and cultural assumptions on both sides provide a better understanding of the process whereby the South Asian diaspora struggles to find itself a place within an increasingly “universal” city.

The Delineations of This Study.

There are a multitude of groups in the general Sydney area which one could speak of as embodying aspects of the South Asian diaspora. Although there are numerous support groups for various gurus in the general Sydney area, I have chosen to look at those groups that have completed or are in the process of completing their own specifically traditional place of worship. Thus the Hare Krishna (ISKCON) cen- tres in North Sydney and Newtown, although they are frequented by a significant number of South Asian-Australians, utilise in one instance a shop front, and in the other, a former funeral parlour and so are not included in this study. The Zoroastrian community based at Annangrove in the far-northern suburbs of the city was another possible candidate. I had originally hoped to include this group because of its Parsi membership; however, its active core of Persian- Australians, make speaking of this community as part of the South Asian diaspora problematic. Of those communities/temples remain- ing I have chosen to concentrate on four which have, by dint of the controversies, good works, festivals and other noticeable events and factors, most impressed themselves upon the public mind in Sydney.1 This study will therefore concentrate on the Lord Murugan Temple

1 There are five gurdwaras in Sydney, Revesby, Blacktown, Turramurra, Liver- pool and Bonnyrigg and six Hindu temples, Mays Hill, Auburn, Helensburgh, Rose- hill and two in Minto.