Wyndham councillor Sahana Ramesh has addressed concerns that her attendance at an Australia Indian Youth Dialogue event was supporting hate speech.
The controversy stemmed from the presence of guest speaker Tejasvi Surya, an Indian MP who has made inflammatory remarks about Muslims and Christians.
Cr Ramesh said she attended the event in a “private capacity” and “would never” behave in a way that would divide the community.
“The event itself only addressed Indian domestic politics without any discussion on religion or hate,” Cr Ramesh said.
“I ran my campaign on diversity, inclusion and equality and respect for all. I have never behaved in any way that contradicts the statements and commitments that I made.”
Upset residents wrote to council and a petition calling for Cr Ramesh to resign garnered 1105 signatures.
Some community members disagreed with the original petition and started their own petition, this time in support of Cr Ramesh, who they referred to as a “true multicultural leader”. As of Friday is had attracted more than 2000 signatures.
Cr Ramesh said she appreciated that those who took exception to her presence at the youth event did so from a “point of sincerity”.
“The feedback that I received from that day, I took that on board and I met with concerned representatives and leaders on Tuesday from the Islamic community,” she said.
“I am absolutely focused on making sure that we stay together and whatever relationships we have across cultures, religions and ethnicities, it’s something that we need to preserve.
“I have never discriminated against any religion, any community or any ethnicity whatsoever, and I take pride in this.”
