Paper short abstract:

This paper will examine the memory of Gallipoli in the Sikh community in Australia, highlighting the dual influence of the home and the host countries and discussing the impact of memorial policies in transnational and multicultural spheres.

Paper long abstract:

Gallipoli land campaign took place between April and December 1915 and ended with the retreat of the British and French forces from the peninsula and the unexpected Ottoman victory. Gallipoli has been studied extensively ever since, deepening our understanding of the various aspects of the campaign and its significance for the belligerent nations, overlooking largely the subaltern histories of Indian sepoys who were mobilised for the campaign. Particularly in Australia, the official history aimed at interpreting the event as the mythical moment of the birth of a nation. The date of the landing, 25 April, became rapidly one the most popular Australian national holidays which changed meaning and nature through time. Although more and more criticised for its overly military and masculine connotations and its internal contradictions the so-called Anzac myth is still at the heart of Australian identity. Although Gallipoli has been virtually forgotten in India along with other campaigns of the First World War, Indian and particularly Sikh community in Australia remembers and commemorates it actively. After a long battle for recognition, Sikh Australians who define this memory as a part of their identity finally obtained the right to march in the Anzac Parade in the last years. This paper will endeavour to highlight the dual influence of the home and the host countries in the making of the memory of this community, while discussing the impact of memorial policies in transnational and multicultural spheres.