Members of the Indian community of a western Sydney suburb renewed calls to name their town ‘Little India’ ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected visit to Australia next month, it was reported. ‘Little India’ is the name used for a cluster of Indian restaurants and shops in Harris Park. The residents are now pushing for the whole area to be named the same, ABC News reported.
Indian businesses in Harris Park refer to the cluster of various Indian restaurants, and retail shops as ‘Little India’ believing that making the sobriquet official would boost the area’s appeal to tourists, reported ABC News.
The first proposal for officially naming the area ‘Little India’ was made in 2015, president of Little India Harris Park Business Association Sanjay Deshwal told ABC. But the attempts were stalled after Geographic Names Board told Parramatta Council to stop using the term as it may “create confusion”.
“The area was crucial to helping students and workers settle into their new home country. It is an important step to provide those people with a feeling of home,” Sanjay Deshwal stressed.
Parramatta Council said that it is still holding talks with the Geographic Names Board and has not received a formal application to assign the name ‘Little India’.
“We want to make it an international destination on the same lines as Little India in Singapore and other places around the world. It puts us on the map,” Parramatta councillor Paul Noack, who moved the motion, said. The current proposal would not replace the suburb name Harris Park, but would designate the three main streets as a cultural precinct, he added.
A 2021 census revealed that 45% of the area’s residents have Indian roots, the report said. PM Modi is expected to visit Australia in May to attend the Quad Summit. The Parramatta Council has formally extended an invitation to PM Modi to visit Harris Park, the report claimed.
“Prime Minister Modi’s visits get watched by millions of people back in India and around the world, that would certainly be a huge boost,” federal member for Parramatta Andrew Charlton said.
