In the days after the April terror attack on tourists in India-administered Kashmir, several Indian diasporic groups organised a rally at the Federation Square in Melbourne to condemn the killings. A majority of people in the rally were seen carrying the Saffron flags, symbolic of Hindu nationalists in India, chanting slogans including “Pakistan stop terrorism” and “Pakistani army, terrorist army”. Only a few Indian flags could be seen in the crowd.
It was a telling example of the manner in which conflicts from abroad can raise issues of peace and harmony in Australia, and also bring an extra dimension of pressure on Australian foreign policy. Political scientists increasingly describe this as “long-distance nationalism” to reflect that diasporic communities are important political actors. Conflicts and events within and between nation-states are no longer limited to their boundaries; the relatively cheap flights and road and rail connections of the modern era have brought the manifold benefits of increased “transcontinental migration”, yet sometimes with the needless baggage of conflicts in the homeland.
Diasporas around the world have been known to support nationalist movements in their home countries or communities. It is both an international and a social problem. The material abilities, representation capacities, and a sense of belonging to the imagined (national) community are key factors determining community responses.
WhatsApp groups and other mediums on social media have emerged as fertile virtual community spaces to evoke and elicit emotional connection and belonging. Even though distanced from their homeland, Instagram posts and TikTok reels facilitate a belonging loop for hyphenated citizens and residents. Virtual space can also become a conflict ground between the diaspora communities.
The video of Indian groups rallying at Federation Square was met with hostility between users claiming to be persons of Indian and Pakistani descent. Such tensions ignited through social media discourses are nothing new, but they have a proven tendency to incite inter-diaspora tensions, just as the one witnessed in Leicester in 2022.
Indian and Pakistani-origin populations respectively make up the second and 12th largest diaspora groups in Australia. According to the Department of Home Affairs, in 2023, 845,800 residents traced their ancestry to India, making up 3.2% of the total population, while 120,440 residents traced their ancestry to Pakistan, making up 0.5% of the total population.
Both Indian and Pakistani governments work to bridge the distance between the homeland and the diaspora. The Pakistani government organises gatherings with overseas expatriates. The Pakistani diaspora has also been crucial for its partisan support in domestic politics, illustrated by lobbying efforts in the United States to hold a congressional hearing “on the state of democracy in Pakistan” after an unsatisfactory election in Pakistan in March 2024. Similarly, Indian Prime Minister Modi is himself known for holding extravagant mega rallies with members of the diaspora in cities such as that seen in Sydney in 2023. In such events, the diaspora organises and consolidates itself around the politics back home.
The Melbourne rally did not lead to violence, but emotions were high, nonetheless. And emotions often act to channel narrative building by both state and non-state actors, particularly via social media, a vulnerability to “hate speech, misinformation and disinformation” recognised in a recent parliamentary inquiry.
Diaspora groups carry different imaginations of home, along with class, generation and ideological differences.
A subsequent four-day conflict between India and Pakistan further charged community sentiments in Australia. While most have continued to adopt Australian neutrality towards the conflict, many feared for the safety of their families at the borders. Some diaspora community leaders were seen urging peace; others came to celebrate these escalatory actions by their respective militaries as “teaching a lesson” to the other.
Multicultural Australia is increasingly at odds with long-distance nationalism. The attitudes of the Indian and Pakistani diaspora towards one another can cause prolonged strain on community relations and, in turn, also hamper Australia’s commitment to multiculturalism. Strategic experts have argued that the community relations between the diaspora groups must be carefully managed to mitigate differences and the potential for conflict. Given the multicultural nature of Australian society, the government must work with the leaders of these diaspora communities to foster conditions of peace, especially during times of conflict.
However, it is necessary to recognise that there is heterogeneity among the diasporic voices. Diaspora groups carry different imaginations of home, along with class, generation and ideological differences. Inter-community harmony cannot be achieved with singular, isolated recognitions of a community at interfaith dialogues. The multiplicity of voices must be recognised.
Multiculturalism needs to be a dynamic policy practice for an evolving society, moulded by issues of identity, discrimination, representation and diversity, as well as policy decisions made in response. For the safety and harmony of multicultural Australia, the most important measure is careful monitoring of social media platforms for hate speech and misinformation campaigns.
