By Sahar Foladi
City of Greater Dandenong Council is weighing up two heavily-backed, opposing petitions on the proposed renaming of the Afghan Bazaar precinct in Thomas Street, Dandenong.
In the council meeting on Monday 10 February, both petitions were tabled – one for the renaming of the precinct to Little Bamyan by the Hazara community and the other to preserve the current name Afghan Bazaar filed by Afghan community groups.
The council meeting was widely attended members from both communities, including Barat Batoor who initiated the name-change proposal and Khalid Amiri, a spokesperson for the group to retain the name Afghan Bazaar.
They were among several who stood to ask questions during public question time.
Batoor’s paper petition to the council garnered 173 signatures from businesses in Thomas Street and surrounding areas, including non-Hazara traders and 19 signatures from community organisations and sporting clubs.
In a seperate online petition for Little Bamyan has attracted more than 3400 as of Tuesday morning (today) and the Afghan Bazaar has garnered over 3770 signatures.
In response, Council’s chief executive Jacqui Weatherill said the council had not made any decisions on this matter yet and both sides would be given “very careful consideration.”
“We have received a very significant amount of enquiries on this topic of Afghan Bazaar in the last two weeks from various perspectives and what they have in common is they have been very sincere, very genuine and very heartfelt.
“Any change or formal naming process would only be taken after a genuine and thorough community consultation, which will take quite a few months and will also require quite a lot of council resources, that we listen even more deeply and understand more about people’s views in regard to it.
“The mayor has been meeting with a variety of groups along with our manager for economic development and they are certainly hearing everybody views and will have a conversation with the council.”
She said depending on the dialogue with the community and the council, a name may be pursued through the Geographic Names Victoria “but it’s too early to say at this stage what kind of approach will be taken.”
“From the enquiries we have received its clear this topic is very complex and sensitive and we don’t want to rush any action on this matter
“We’re very proud of the Thomas Street precinct it’s a lively and thriving fantastic commercial and cultural precinct.
“It’s a credit to all diverse traders who have created this special place over more than 20 years.
“We’re proud of the peaceful way our Greater Dandenong community gets along despites many residents having had very painful experience of conflict and division in their birth countries.”
It was also clarified that if Thomas Street’s name was changed, it would require the state government’s Geographic Name Change registrar process.
The opposing groups are trying to garner as much support as they can, including on social media platforms, Facebook and TikTok videos which have attracted more than a thousand views.
There were more than 300 comments on Batoor’s video post the council meeting and Khalid Amiri’s TikTok video has attracted more than 4000 views and over 400 comments.
Both sides contain strong supporters in the community as well as online.
Batoor is a Hazara, internationally known and an award-winning freelance photojournalist and filmmaker, who called Australia home in 2012 and has become vocal on the struggle of identity and belonging through his works.
Khalid Amiri was a journalist in Afghanistan for the Afghan state broadcaster RTA and known for his courageous reporting.
He fled to Australia with his family after the Taliban took to power where he’s pursuing masters in international relations in University of Melbourne.
Amiri is also vocal on refugee rights, multiculturalism and inclusion in the community.
