Irwin Districts Historical Society to commemorate Sikh community after Dongara road named in their honour

The Irwin Districts Historical Society is set to host several members from WA’s Sikh community after a newly-labelled road in Dongara was named in their honour. Sikh Lane, which runs east off Hepburn Street between Moreton Terrace and Smith Street, had its name approved last year when the Shire of Irwin applied to Landgate to name the previously unnamed road. According to the shire, a community of Sikhs lived in Dongara from the 1890s to the 1940s, running either shops or farms in the area. Properties at “Sikh Quarter”, where the lane is, were run by Sojan Singh and Rur Singh in the from 1906 to 1947. Historical society chair Bruce Baskerville said it was important to acknowledge the significance of culture within the area. “In the early 20th century, Dongara had the largest Sikh population of any town in Western Australia,” he said. “Their skills and business endeavours laid the foundations for a Sikh community whose growth was sadly stalled after Federation by the White Australia Policy. “Dongara’s Sikh heritage survives in the nationally significant store journals of Rur Singh now in our museum collections, in several local historic buildings, in the descendants of Sojan and Grace Singh across WA, in rare surviving historical photographs, and now in the naming of Sikh Lane.” The society said it was expecting many members of the Sikh community in Perth to make the journey north to attend the community naming ceremony next month. The ceremony was set to be in line with Vaisakhi, or Sikh New Year. The community naming ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 12.