A group of Hazara community members are seeking a renaming of the famous Afghan Bazaar to Little Bamyan in a push for better cultural understanding.
The group also consists of traders on Thomas Street Dandenong who say a name change would better reflect Hazara businesses’ near-20 years of contribution in the area.
Barat Batoor is among several who attended a City of Greater Dandenong Council meeting on Tuesday 28 January to request the name change, but was turned down.
He intends to table a petition ahead of the next council meeting on Monday 10 February.
Batoor told Star Journal there has always been “dissatisfaction” within the Hazara community regarding the name.
“We consulted widely with community members, business owners in Dandenong and they all favour this rename.
“The name should be inclusive and represent the contribution of the Hazara community in transforming the once deserted street into a now thriving business centre, creating jobs, contributing economically to the economy of the Greater Dandenong Council and attracting tourists for almost 20 years now.
“I hope the representatives of the community in the council will hear the request of Hazaras.
“Little Bamyan better portrays the rich history of Afghanistan, and the stakeholders in the Bazaar will have a sense of belonging and pride.”
He says ‘Afghan’ is a synonym of ‘Pashtun’ which is the name of the ruling ethnic group and a “controversial term imposed on other ethnic groups, especially Hazaras,” referring to the ongoing Hazara genocide within the country, forcing them to call Australia and cities like Greater Dandenong home.
The name change is crucial to the ever-increasing Hazara community in Greater Dandenong to educate and spread cultural awareness including about the rich history of Bamyan.
Hazara people are one of the largest ethnic minority groups within Afghanistan mainly residing in Hazarajat (or Hazaristan) with Bamyan being one of the largest cities in Hazarajat.
Two business owners, who are also Hazaras but wish not to be named, have been successfully operating in the precinct since 2012.
They say Hazaras merely need the term ‘Afghan’ removed from them since the term is imposed on them in Afghanistan under the ruling terrorist group.
However, not all of the current business owners in Afghan Bazaar are Hazara people. Some have moved in the busy centre after they bought the shops from original owners who may have been Hazara.
Mujtaba and his family bought the now Bamyan store back in 2013 from original owners who were Hazara people.
He says the renaming wouldn’t make a difference to them or their operation.
Other business owners told Star Journal they aren’t against the renaming of the precinct but reluctant to support it, believing that it may cause an unnecessary disunity within the wider Afghan community that could also impact negatively on businesses.
Greater Dandenong strategic and environmental planning manager Brett Jackson responded at the meeting that the current term is considered to be a “representative of diverse and historical cultural perspectives of all Afghanis”.
“As such at this time council doesn’t have any plans to rename however council will continue to welcome all communities to Greater Dandenong and to support all communities where it can.”
Councillor Rhonda Garad says she supports the initiative considering the rename to be vital in acknowledging the “layers of diversity” within Greater Dandenong which prides itself of its multiculturalism.
“When people see the multicultural area Dandenong, it has had successful waves of migrants, we are extremely mature and we welcome having greater understanding of particular groups of our society rather than large blanket terms of Afghan.
“It’s time the community understand who they are, their rich cultural history and geographical location.
“I think it will go well for everyone and I understand people who may not be in favour of it but there’s a strong desire and energy behind this.”
Garad says the rename will help to “increase the tourist visitation” as well as educate the wider community about Bamyan and its history and form better cultural understanding.
On Monday 31 October 2022, the council endorsed a motion which condemned the escalation of genocidal violence against the Hazara people in Afghanistan after the Taliban took power.
The motion also committed to a 20,000 emergency additional humanitarian visa intake from Afghanistan focusing on the “at-risk groups” like Hazara people and included a round-table of Australian-Hazara people sharing concerns for their families in Afghanistan.
