The fourth edition of the Hind Pak mehfil celebrates brotherhood, love, and Punjabi culture across the border of India and Pakistan. Organised by the NZ Punjab Multimedia Trust, the event took place at the Swami Narayan Temple Complex in Papatoetoe on Friday evening (August 12).
The event was graced by many dignitaries, including Hon Consul of India in Auckland Bhav Dhillon; Hon Consul of Georgia in New Zealand Jagjit Singh; Founder and Chairperson of Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust, Jeet Suchdev; Labour Party MP from Takanini Dr Anae Neru Leavasa; ACT Party MP Simon Court and Dr Ashraf Choudhary from Pakistan Association of New Zealand among many others.
The guests (around 100 in number) enjoyed the evening which was high on poetry and music.
. They also expressed their views and appreciated the inspiration behind the event. While there were poetry recitations by known faces from the Indian community in Auckland, such as Justice of Peace Indu Bajwa and immigration advisor Nimmi Bedi among others, there were also mesmerising musical performances by singers such as Sukh Dhindsa, Satta Vairowalia, Nisar Mirza, Shanu Devgan and Amrita Kaur.
Sharing his views about the event, Mr Dhillon said, “ It was a very successful evening that promoted music, love, brotherhood. It was great to see such a celebration of people to people bond between East and West Punjab. The fact that the shared love of the Punjabi language was also commemorated was heart-warming to see".
Parliamentarian Dr Anae Neru Leavasa also called this event a great way to spread the message of unity. He said, “ Thank you to the NZ Punjabi Multimedia Trust and Radio Spice team for the 4th Hind Pak event. Great to see my local government colleagues and friends celebrate together with our community. Unity was the key message tonight, and the poetry with music portrayed this. Blessings.”
The organisers were also happy with the response and couldn’t contain their excitement. Mr Navtej Randhawa of Radio Spice, one of the key persons behind this event, said, “We celebrated the 75th year of India’s and Pakistan’s independence with a clear message to unite the people of the two countries as well as the wider sub-continent. This is so that our future generations can learn to live and work together in a country like New Zealand. May the peace prevail back in India and Pakistan.”
The guests enjoyed the delicious dinner of makke ki roti and sarson ka saag.