The presence of neo-Nazis at a community gathering organised by Victorian Liberal MPs, part of the ongoing feud over the Victorian State Government’s renaming of Guru Nanak Lake in Berwick Springs, is a concerning development in what was originally a community matter.
Sikh community leader Dr Harpreet Singh Kandra says he is disappointed to see a ‘trivial issue’ being politicised.
“With neo-Nazis attending something like this, it clearly means that the agenda of the objectors, or some of the people who are misguiding the objectors, is much bigger and much different compared to just a small issue,” he said.
“I think in the first place when it [became] politically motivated, we gave the ammunition to the neo-Nazi group to come and start supporting something like this.”
On November 19th, following a petition, Berwick Liberal MPs Brad Battin and Ann-Marie Hermans organised a rally to protest a lack of community consultation behind a lake in Melbourne’s Southeast being renamed the Guru Nanak Lake. The event, intended for local community to voice their concerns, was attended by what the Berwick Star described as “men dressed in black shirts with crosses on them”.
This group of men have since been confirmed to include convicted far-right activists Thomas Sewell, Joel Davis, Nathan Bull and Jimeone Roberts.
Speaking to Berwick Star, Lead Petitioner Michael Ball stresses the neo-Nazis are “completely irrelevant” to the campaign, which has resulted in the initiation of a formal consultation process.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto has confirmed for Indian Link that MPs Battin and Hermans did not invite these men, nor did they have prior knowledge of their attendance at the event.
“Upon becoming aware of these individuals, Victoria Police were immediately alerted and Liberal MPs in attendance left the event,” he said.
The Victorian Labor party have taken aim at the Opposition over this incident, releasing a statement chastising the Liberal Party for ‘continu[ing] to put on events that attract Nazis’.
Minister for Crime Prevention Anthony Carbines also cited the incident in a statement to the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, in connection with the party’s intention to reform anti-vilification legislation.
Pesutto did not comment to Indian Link on actions to safeguard the Indian community following the incident.
Dr Kandra encourages the community not to play into fear.
“I will not create a scare campaign with this…In the past, there have been incidents where people have thrown garbage in the Officer Gurdwara just before our planning application was being considered,” he says
“You will come across certain people with such low mentality who will do weird things like that, but instead of hating them, I would use that as an opportunity to spread love and understanding in the community.”
He is keen for the Liberal Party to resolve the issue quickly so the community can move on.
“I would like to make an appeal to the Liberal Party to take this seriously so that we can maintain communal harmonies. Otherwise, we will not end up going far, and I think we need to focus more on other challenges.”
“We do understand in the past Liberal Party has taken action against one of their MP’s…I don’t know what action Liberal Party will take now. It’s their internal matter, so we will not comment on that, but I think overall it’s a big slap on the name of efficient and productive Australia.”
When asked about consequences for Battin and Hermans in light of the Moira Deeming case, Pesutto told Indian Link: “These are different circumstances to the events of March 2023.”
“A productivity issue”: background on the Guru Nanak Lake debate
The feud began on November 9, when the Allan Labor Government renamed the Berwick Springs Lake to Guru Nanak Lake, in honour of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first Guru and founder of the Sikh faith.
The announcement was accompanied by $600,000 of funding towards Langar celebrations across Victoria, with Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ingrid Stitt saying the naming of the lake ‘recognised the significant contributions of our Sikh community in Victoria’.
A week later, resident Michael Ball launched a petition expressing ‘deep concern and disbelief about th[e] change and the process by which it was conducted’, asking to reverse the decision on the grounds of a lack of consultation with community.
According to the Government’s statement, “the renaming of the lake follow[ed] consultation with key Sikh community leaders and traditional owners”, and follows a 2018 election promise to name a landmark after Guru Nanak. The City of Casey, Berwick Springs’ local government, has since stated they were ‘not involved in the naming of the lake or have any authority on the naming of the lake.’
Dr Kandra, an organiser of the counter-petition, maintains the naming of the lake is a non-issue which is disrupting productivity.
“What has changed is that a signage has been put there, it says it’s Guru Nanak Lake…That is the only change that is happening. The usefulness of the lake, the ambience of the lake is not changing. It’s essentially a productivity issue where we are just creating a hill out of a mole [sic]. That’s all.”
“If there’s a problem with the process we can work to make the process better for the next time. But if it is a problem with the name, and with accepting a faith leader, then I don’t think we can do much.”
Ball’s petition has reached 7385 signatures; signatory comments note a variety of reasons, including the Sikh guru’s lack of historical connection to the area, viewing the decision as pandering to a minority, and unfortunately, racial motivations.
He is keen to “remind everyone that we need to be respectful to [members of] the Sikh faith” who “do amazing work throughout our community”, and the intent of the petition is to question ‘the decision-making process and decision makers”.
Many local Indians have also signed the petition against the naming of Guru Nanak Lake, citing communal disharmony and the imposition of the Sikh religion, particularly considering tensions in Canada.
“I am an immigrant from India myself, but I do not want people like me asking for our cultural or religious matters to disrupt the Australian culture and identity,” wrote Jose Das Makson Chakkalakkal, a signatory from Cranbourne North.
Dr Kandra says the intention behind renaming the lake is ‘love and compassion’ and hopes to set a precedent for more instances of ‘recognising multicultural community.’
“I think it’s an excellent opportunity for the Indian community to come together…if you see what Guru Nanak has written in the Guru Granth Sahib, he referred to Lord Rama several times…you will see Allah has been referred to several times. Guru Nanak is not only of Sikhs, but he is also of the entire India,” he said.
Following the gatecrashing of neo-Nazis, Dr Kandra encourages the Indian community to stand united to support the Guru Nanak Lake renaming.
“If we remain segmented as Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs or from India and from other communities then I think we will keep fighting and the divisive forces that are very active these days after the US elections will get stronger,” he said.
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