A laneway in the small town of Dongara has been given Western Australia’s first Sikh place name, even though the Sikh population is zero.
Sikh Lane was officially opened on Saturday, and the unveiling was followed by a free lunch provided by the Sikh Community of Perth.
Photos from the event show turbaned Sikhs posing for photos in front of the lane’s new sign, and the naming was celebrated by Sikh and Punjabi community groups on social media.
Dongara, population 1,393 people, had no followers of Sikhism at the time of the 2021 Census, although seven residents gave their country of birth and ancestry as Indian.
The town, almost 400km north of Perth, was home to a small Sikh population in the early 20th century, according to research conducted by the Irwin District Historical Society (IDHS).
IDSH chair Bruce Baskerville told ABC News Sikh Lane was the state’s first Sikh place name, and said Dongara had Western Australia’s largest Sikh community at the time of the 1911 Census.
He said the first Sikh arrival, a man called Sojan Singh, was followed by other families who set up a business quarter in the town but that the community eventually died out due to the White Australia Policy.
“They could no longer bring their relatives here from India and so, over time, got older and older and eventually they died,” he said.
“[The Sikh] community seemed to fade away out of consciousness and their shops were bought by other people.”
The previously unnamed lane runs through Singh’s former commercial property in what was then known as the “Sikh Quarter”, and at the time of Singh’s death 20 Sikhs lived in the town – 2% of the population.
Shire of Irwin Council said the Sikh Lane proposal accepted submissions in May last year, and in July received Geographic Naming Approval from Landgate.
According to the IDHS, Singh hung himself in a police cell in 1920 after being arrested for excessive drinking, and after his death a doctor revealed at an inquest that he had been treating Singh for alcoholism and “violent hallucinations” for months.
In the early 20th Century the town was dubbed “Dirty Dongara” by the Geraldton Advertiser, and the newspaper also reported on fights in the streets between Dongara’s Sikhs.
Sikh history advocate Tarun Preet Singh, who coordinated Saturday’s event, said some of Sojan Singh’s descendants were in attendance, which was “very, very emotional”.
He said he hoped Sikh Lane would put Dongara on the map for tourists, both from the Sikh and wider communities.
The naming of Sikh Lane comes amid ongoing controversy over the renaming of Melbourne’s Berwick Springs Lake to Guru Nanak Lake, after the founder of Sikhism.
Header image: Left, right, the naming ceremony (Punjabi Sath Perth – Facebook).
