A Shaheed Minar has been inaugurated in the Wyndham city of Australia commemorating the Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day.
It is the first permanent Shaheed Minar in the state of Victoria formally opened in front of the city’s Julia Gillard Library on February 26, according to a news release.
A diaspora community organization – Victorian Bangladeshi Community Foundation (VBCF) – initiated the move through continuous engagement with the local authorities.
Wyndham City Council financed the project titled, “Wyndham Mother Language Public Art Project”, worth over $350,000.
For over a decade, community people including those belonging to the South Asian and Bangladeshi diaspora in the city have been observing the International Mother Language Day through various cultural events.
The VBCF and Wyndham City Council started celebrating the day in 2017 through the slogan “Mum, I will save your language and culture alive!”
The VBCF is a not for profit organization, presently based on Hoppers Crossing, Melbourne, VIC which aims to bring the communities together, specifically the rapidly growing Bangladeshi and South Asian communities living around western suburbs in Victoria.