A food and travel blogger’s post about his visit to Melbourne’s west celebrating an area being “100% Indian” has sparked a massive backlash online.
New Zealand-based content creator Bhavik Bhatt shared an album of photos of a strip of Indian restaurants in the suburb of Truganina this week, and declared: “This is not a small-scale India. This is India in its entirety … with a population comprised entirely of Indian communities.
“A 100-metre walk yields an array of Indian restaurants, paan parlours, dessert corners, and other establishments. The standout feature is that all these restaurants are faring well, thanks to their positioning within a community that is 100% Indian,” he wrote.
Mr Bhatt also recommended that Indian entrepreneurs based in Auckland consider Melbourne’s west instead, claiming that business costs were lower.
But his post generated hundreds of critical comments in a Facebook group for Indians in the area, with many criticising the transformation of the suburb, which at the time of the 2021 Census was just 36.3% Australian-born, 20.2% Hindu, 19.8% Muslim, and 11.3% Sikh.
“The great replacement is underway guys,” read one popular comment from a non-Indian.
“Imagine moving to a country where the people who come from all around the world already there welcome you, allow you to practice your culture and all we ask in return is for a bit of basic respect and assimilation and you make a point of segregating yourself and looking down on those same people… wild,” said another.
“I’m getting a good insight into the attitude and mentality of Indians living in Melbourne,” said another.
Some Indians responded by calling on the group admins to “remove the non-Indians”, while others agreed with the criticism, saying the area was getting worse and calling for paan – a betel but desert – to be banned because immigrants spit it out onto the street.
“Stop promoting this stupidity. We have left India for a reason. Having more of that Indianness is a step down, not a step up. Check the rubbish around these shops, driving and parking habits of desi people. People drive in wrong lanes, speed and do stupid things. Nothing to brag about its lowering of the standard,” wrote one user.
“Everything is okay apart from these paan shops. Please don’t start here as well, I saw too many fellow Indians eating paan and doing same thing what they used to do back home. Stains on their cars, around their houses,” another said.
“Now I got to know why there is an anti-Indian feeling. There is nothing to be proud of this. Paan should be banned. This is not the right attitude. If you are here, respect the culture and integrate. If you want 100% Indian, guys why did you come here. Surprise to see the attitude of some of the people,” wrote a third.
After making the post Mr Bhatt has continued to document his trip to Melbourne online, visiting Indian restaurants and supermarkets and a Hindu temple while also promoting an Ikea-inspired Indian furniture shop in Auckland called Idiya.
Header image: Left, Mr Bhatt in front of one of the Truganina stores. Right, a paan parlour (Facebook).
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