Violence Erupts as Police, Protesters Clash during Australia Day in Sydney
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Police have cracked down on flag-burning protesters gathered in Sydney for ‘Invasion Day’ – an event to protest Australia Day, which is celebrated on January 26.
Thousands of people across Australia have joined indigenous people to protest the celebrations.
The protester who initially tried to set the flag on fire, 20-year-old Indigenous Australian death metal singer Birrugan Dunn-Velasco, has been taken to the police station.
A woman was injured in the protest and was taken to the hospital, Russia Today reported.
Protesters marched through central Sydney, calling on the government to change the date of Australia Day and chanting: “always was, always will be aboriginal land.”
January 26 is considered a day of mourning by Aboriginal Australians. On that date in 1788, the first British ships arrived in New South Wales.
“We have been mistreated, slaughtered and beaten down since the day, so don’t expect us to be happy little Aboriginals on that day,” Ken Canning, one of the rally’s organizers said.
Canning told a crowd that “Australians have woken up” and now realize that Australia Day is a day of mourning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“That is not something to celebrate. That is not a day to throw a shrimp on the barbie. That is not a day to go out and get blind drunk and start throwing up all over the footpath,” he said.
“It was an invasion. And it’s still going on today,” he added.
In Canberra, hundreds of protesters marched from the Aboriginal tent embassy to the doors of Parliament House.