Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

On Sunday 21 February the Bangla-speaking people of Western Sydney joined people of all languages and cultures in celebrating International Mother Language Day. 21 February was chosen as International Mother Language Day in memory of that date in 1952 when students protested for the right to speak their own language. During the demonstration, four students were shot dead by police in Dhaka, the present-day capital of Bangladesh. It has been commemorated in Bangladesh since 2000 and is now an international day that recognises the rights of language and culture.

I would like to acknowledge Mr Abdul Wahab and Mr Laurence Barrel from Ekushe Academy for their work in organising such a vibrant day. Ekushe Academy is a secular, non-political organisation that promotes the Bangla language, its literature and cultural practices. This is the 10th anniversary of their first International Mother Language Day commemoration in 2006 in Ashfield Park, where the event is still held today. Thanks also to Mr Nirmal Paul from the celebration committee for his hard work in organising the day over many years and his ongoing service in conserving his mother language, and to the hardworking volunteers who, along with everything else that they had to do that day, cared that I might need lunch before my drive to Canberra. Thank you, Nargis Mdatai and Maliha and Mahirah Sattar.

Linguistic diversity is a world heritage resource that must be valued and protected. I would like to wish a happy International Mother Language Day, for yesterday, to all of my communities.

On Thursday, I had the honour of attending the Tamil community Pongal celebration at New South Wales Parliament House. Pongal is a four-day-long harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka and, indeed, wherever Tamil people live. For as long as people have been planting and gathering food, there has been some form of harvest festival, and Pongal is one of the most popular Hindu festivals of the year. The four-day festival of thanksgiving to nature takes its name from the Tamil word meaning 'to boil' and is held in the month of Thai—January-February—during the season when rice and other cereals, sugarcane and turmeric are harvested. Wherever there is Tamil food, there is turmeric!

The event was organised by the Tamil Arts and Culture Association, a group of great Tamil volunteers who cater for the growth of the Tamil community Australia-wide, in particular in my area, where nearly half of the Tamil Australians live in the suburbs of Wentworthville, Westmead, Toongabbie and Pendle Hill. Like its name suggests, it seeks to enhance the cultural and social life of the Tamil community beyond the occasional cultural gathering. Congratulations to TACA, in particular their president, Anagan Babu, for organising their Pongal event in New South Wales Parliament House for the very first time. My state counterpart, Geoff Lee, hosted the event in the New South Wales parliament and I promise to host Pongal in Canberra next year. I know my Tamil community will hold me to that, so, to my Tamil community: I will see you all down here next year.

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