LEST WE FORGET SURENDRA PRASAD OAM

The idea for a memorial to Indian soldiers who served the Australian cause came in . The history about their contributions were being unearthed and it touched a deep chord within me, especially as it went unrecognised.

I started discussions with others in our community about building a memorial, and the support I received was overwhelming.

The ederal member for oreton, raham errett arranged a meeting with the resident of the RS Sub Branch Sunnybank, Hugh olson, and we discussed a possible space to house the monument.

A management committee - the Australians of Indian Heritage ar emorial Committee AIH C - was formed in uly . It drew members from different sectors of the Indian community, the RS sub-branch and politicians from both major parties. Capt Chetan Chandegave, Defence Adviser at the Indian High Commission also offered his support. uch support also came from a good mate of mine, ewis ee A , who, as Chairman of the Australians of Chinese Heritage ar emorial Committee ACH C , was instrumental in the installation of a similar Chinese monument a few years ago.

The cost to build our monument was estimated at around , : we raised some of this money ourselves, but very soon the federal government came on board with a , commitment. e thank Nick onsour and Ross asta ederal member for Bonner , for their efforts in obtaining this grant. or the monument itself, we requested riffith University, old Coast, to design the memorial. Dr Ruwan ernando from the riffith University School of Architecture became directly involved, designing a four-week project with his first year students. A group of students participated in the preliminary design competition. The students were encouraged to research cultural aspects, including art and customs and incorporate this into their model. Eleven students were picked as finalists to develop the design further. e are very proud to see this project, the first of its kind in ueensland, finally come to fruition, thanks to the joint efforts of the AIH committee, RS Sunnybank, and the staff and students of riffith University.

A panel of five judges was appointed to evaluate the design entries. At a gala dinner on November , Bianca Archer s submission was announced as the winner.

Depicting a turban-clad Indian-origin soldier together with a mainstream peer, this monument will serve as a reminder and tribute to all Australians of Indian heritage who served in our armed forces.

Apart from the monument, in memory of the fallen Australian-Indian soldiers, the committee has set up an educational bursary for high school students valued up to a year. This financial support has gone out to deserving students in the past two years and we hope to continue providing this assistance in coming years as well.