“We are planting 75 trees to commemorate 75 years of Indian Independence. This is a huge milestone. It’s about people being able to forge their own path, about India coming out of British rule and into Indian self-rule,” Wellington Mayor Andy Foster said.
Foster was speaking to the Indian Weekender at an outdoor event held at a reserve in Newlands on Saturday to mark 75 years of Indian Independence.
The event was organised by the Indian High Commission in collaboration with the Wellington Indian Association (WIA).
Labour Member of Parliament Greg O’Connor also grabbed a spade and joined the crowd in planting saplings.
Icy, gale-force winds failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd with Foster and O’Connor taking the lead in picking up shovels and digging pits on the grassy hillside to embed the saplings.
Talking to the Indian Weekender, Foster hailed Mahatma Gandhi as one of “the great men of history who helped achieve Independence for India in a peaceful way.”
The mayor added that, while each nation had its own identity which needed to be celebrated, “we also need to learn to live together as a family of nations.
“As we have seen, it doesn’t happen in certain parts of the world.”
In this context, Foster noted NZ and India were two democracies that shared a strong friendship.
“The 100,000 plus people of Indian origin who call NZ home are proud of their Indian roots,” he pointed out.
Foster hoped the saplings would grow into a forest and “this area becomes a little piece of India in Wellington, NZ.”
Pitching his voice above the gusting wind, Indian High Commission Head of Chancery and acting Charge d’Affairs Mukesh Ghiya thanked the Park Rangers for “giving this opportunity to the Indian High Commission and the Indian people for celebrating the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, by giving 75 plants for planting on the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence.”
Ghiya was accompanied on the occasion by Second Secretary Durga Dass.
The High Commission officials muddied their hands in the service of government and country.
“Planting 75 trees on this occasion is an important event for the Indian High Commission and for the Government of India as well,” Dass told the Indian Weekender. “The harsh weather did not stop us from going ahead with the tree planting.”
Before proceeding to the tree planting venue, the community members as well as dignitaries assembled at the Johnsonville Community Centre where Wellington Indian Association president Dipak Bhana welcomed the gathering.
Paramjit Singh, former Wellington Gurudwara office bearer, opened the proceeding with a Sikh prayer. Foster, O’Connor, Ghiya and a Park Ranger then addressed the seated audience. WIA general secretary Tejas Kalidas gave the vote of thanks.
O’Connor, who has an office in Johnsonville, warned the assembly that planting trees was a challenge in the harsh Wellington weather. He reminded everyone, however, of an old saying: “No one ever learned to sail on a still lake.”