Muslims in Bendigo will finally have a place of their own for worship after years of waiting.
Five years after the Bendigo mosque became a rallying point for far-right extremists, the first sod has been turned as construction begins. The Bendigo Islamic Centre will be built to contain a mosque within it. The centre will also house a sports hall and a café which will be open to the whole of the Bendigo community.
The members of the Bendigo Islamic community were beaming with pride and excitement and community member Sajjad Muhammed said “… after all that has happened in Bendigo, all the good and bad things, that all the community together, and everybody was waiting for this day, and finally it happened.” The event was marked by the members of the Islamic community, with the city leaders and premier Daniel Andrews in attendance for the turning of the first sod on Friday.
Construction of the first stage, a multipurpose building, will begin immediately. It has taken more than five years for this plan to reach its fruition. President of the Bendigo Islamic Association and vice president of the of the Bendigo Islamic community Centre Sameer Syed said the start of the construction was a milestone for Bendigo and that it had been a long time coming. Up until now, members of the Islamic faith in Bendigo have been praying in smaller places and hired halls which were often overflowing with worshipers and hence the need for a bigger centre.
The plans for the Bendigo Islamic Community Centre were first put to council in 2014.The Centre is estimated to cost around $3 million and will include two prayer halls, a sports hall, a caretaker house and office. At that time there was some vocal section of the local community who opposed the idea of the Islamic Centre altogether and held regular demonstrations, including protest at council meetings. On some occasions of the protest rallies in Bendigo, the protestors were often joined by the figures from the far right wing groups from across the country.
In response to that, the leaders from groups across Bendigo – religious, political and community stood united against this, issuing a statement that Bendigo was a “proudly multi-faith” community.
The council had issued the planning permit on 18 June, 2014 and the objectors to the plan had lodged a complaint to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2015, arguing that the proposal should be rejected on planning grounds. The VCAT dismissed the objection in August 2015 which then led the case to the Victorian court of appeal to then finally move to the High Court which was rejected in June 2016. Throughout these years, there have still been protests by minority groups. Bendigo made international headlines in 2015 when anti-Islam protesters hijacked a council meeting and the far-right United Patriots front and pro-diversity campaigners faced off each other at a series of rallies with a heavy police presence.
However, “The whole experience has been really good for us,” says the president of the Bendigo Islamic association, Sameer Syed. “We’ve made so many friends,”
State and local government representative joined the Islamic community in marking Friday’s milestone, reiterating their appreciation for Muslim people and the multicultural society.
Premier Daniel talked about how the Muslims have contributed to the Bendigo community and noted their participation in the Health workforce. Premier Daniel Andrew said “We don’t tolerate diversity – we celebrate diversity”.
