A ban on Nazi symbols is now being introduced at a federal level.
Legislators are targeting and banning the use of the Nazi hakenkreuz or hooked cross to spread hate.
The Hindu, Jain and Buddhist communities say education is key to misunderstandings about the swastika.
Hindu swastika seen on a lamp and on a decoration hanging from the ceiling.
Asian faith communities want people to stop using the term Nazi swastika and instead refer to the Nazi hakenkreuz, saying the former term reinforces misunderstandings about the symbol’s use and misuse. Source: Supplied / Hindu Council of Australia Victoria chapter
The public display of Nazi symbols will be banned under federal legislation to come before parliament next week.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the law – the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill – aims to criminalise the display of Nazi hate symbols on flags, armbands, T-shirts in public and online with a maximum jail term of 12 months.
The legislation deliberately leaves out reference to the term swastika – and instead refers to the Nazi hakenkreuz. It also bans the schutzstaffel, or SS symbol.
It draws on similar bans in states including Victoria, NSW and Queensland. The laws are drafted to allow the use of the swastika for purposes like education in Holocaust museums and for Asian faith communities that have a tradition of using the symbol for peaceful means.
Mr Dreyfus said it will be a matter for states to criminalise the Nazi salute that been used repeatedly by a group of between 20-30 neo-Nazi protesters in Melbourne this year.
‘Don’t call it the Nazi swastika’: Why Asian faith groups are calling for more education on the swastika
The Hindu Council of Australia is among the Asian faith groups, along with the Jain and Buddhist faiths, that have contributed to input on Nazi symbol ban legislation across different Australian jurisdictions.
The president of the Hindu Council of Australia’s Victoria chapter, Makarand Bhagwat, said since Victoria’s legislation came into effect in December last year, the education campaign has ramped up.
His plea is for term the Nazi swastika to fall into disuse – as community groups work to remove the damage from the Nazi’s use of the symbol in 1920s and 1930s to promote an ideology of hate.
Six million Jewish people died in the Holocaust as part of the Nazi campaign to eliminate Europe’s Jewish population.
Instead for Asian faith communities, the swastika is a symbol of peace, love and prosperity – used as part of religious and cultural practices.
“There are multiple interpretations in the old sacred books. The literal meaning translates “to be auspicious”,” Mr Bhagwat told SBS News.
“The four limbs of the symbol signify the four virtues of life: in Sanskrit, Dharma is righteousness, Artha is obtaining wealth with right purpose, Kama is the desire; and Moksha is the utimate aim to be one with God. It also signifies the four seasons and all the natural things which are happening in the world.”
Mr Bhagwat said the symbol is commonly used as a sign of good luck and placed on the doors of households.
“The word is getting through in Victoria [that it’s not a Nazi symbol]. I am no longer get any phone calls on what is happening with the new laws, because the word has now spread.
“The swastika (in the way we use it) is protected and reclaimed. And we are free to use it in religious and cultural settings without the fear of creating an offence because there is a clear exception.”
How did the Nazis come to co-opt the symbol?
In 1920s, the Nazi Party misappropriated the symbol, which it called the Hakenkreuz (German for “hooked cross”) subverting it for its own ends to spread a message of hate.
Austrian-born British historian Gwendolyn Leick writes that the Nazis were perhaps attracted by the idea put forward by German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, who connected it to a shared Aryan culture across Europe and Asia as part of his work excavating the ancient city of Troy in the 19th century.
The symbol is significant for other Asian faiths. In Buddhism, the symbol is called ‘manji’ and represents the Buddha’s footsteps. For Jains, the symbol represents the four types of birth on the cycle of birth and death. The Zoroastrian faith uses the symbol to signify four elements: water, fire, air and earth.
Dr Simon Holloway, the head of education at the Melbourne Holocaust Melbourne, said context is key.
“It’s about the deployment of the symbol, whether somebody is using the symbol to profess a profound antipathy towards people who are Jewish, or people who are gay, lesbian or transgender. The way in which the symbol gets used demonstrates the intentions of the people who are using it.”
And he agrees education will be crucial to ensuring people understand the difference between the harmful and hateful use of the Nazi hakenkreuz and its peaceful use by Asian faith communities.
“When survivors of the Holocaust see something like that, in as much as they are survivors of genocide, it’s particularly confronting,” he said.
“There are such a number of Holocaust survivors within the community, that I think the community as a whole finds that sort of symbolism very upsetting and triggering. And those who are using those symbols are aware of that – it’s part of their intention.”
Experts warn of tactics used by far-right groups to spread hate
Australia’s national security agency, ASIO, said far-right extremism and the potential for violence remains a threat in Australia, after activity levels rose during the pandemic.
The agency’s director-general Mike Burgess told Senate estimates in February right-wing extremism activity now accounts for 30 per cent of its counter-terrorism workload, falling from a peak of 50 per cent in mid-2021.
Deakin University researcher Dr Josh Roose said the criminalisation of Nazi symbols is an important step in removing a tool of recruitment by far-right groups.
“You’re depriving a group of people who not only hate our way of life but also hate many members of our population. You’re depriving them of a key weapon in their arsenal. It also sends a strong message that we don’t tolerate this as a society.”
He said the counter-terrorism risk needs to be monitored by looking at both the security and social dimensions of how radicalisation emerges.
Deakin University Professor Michele Grossman, research chair in diversity and community resilience, said the emboldened far-right demonstrations and use of Nazi symbols cannot go unaddressed.
“It actually is offensive to the history of Australia and the norms and values that Australia has adopted as a free, open, pluralistic society that believes in equality and dignity for all.
“I think the way in which the proposed legislation is attempting to balance this real recognition of the pluralism of our society, but also the pluralistic nature of symbols themselves. They are never that are never entirely fixed. And this is a really good example of how that works.”
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