Indian students' hope of securing a last-minute reprieve from the government to allow them to stay in this country legitimately seems to have been ignored again when their loud protest in Auckland failed to elicit any response from the Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.
On Monday, September 26, more than 50 students, supported by few resident supporters and organisers of protest from the Indian Migrant Workers Association, protested loudly outside a public meeting attended by National MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar and Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.
Anticipating the hype around this protest, police was present in numbers with tasers to prevent any untoward scene, which also raised concerns. Sunny Sehgal from IMWA mentioned that Rachel Mackintosh, vice-president of the Council of Trade Unions, demanded an explanation from the police officer for carrying the taser weapon at a peaceful, non-violent protest by the students, to which the officer responded, “I don’t care, not my problem, it’s your problem."
Prior to this much-hyped protest, Anu Kaloti from the Indian Migrant Workers Association had publically stated that the protestors were hoping to meet Deputy Prime Minister Bill English to take their message for the immigration minister to provide an appropriate time for a meeting with a committee formed to protect students’ cause.
Kaloti said that their request to meet the Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse had been declined several times, stating they cannot address individual issues.
Apparently, the said committee has members including the Arch Bishop of Catholic Church, and Anglican Church, leading lawyers, and Secretary of Council of Trade Union.
Talking to Indian Weekender, Kaloti said that on behalf of the students, she made an attempt to meet English and request him to take their message for immigration minister, but they were not allowed to enter inside the venue and the doors were locked from inside.
“I requested one of the policemen to escort 3-4 students in and out and allow them to convey their message to the minister, peacefully. But they denied saying that the doors were locked and they couldn’t do anything,” said Kaloti.
The protestors, however, continued sloganeering outside the meeting, while the Finance Minister was speaking eloquently about his government's plan for Auckland's infrastructure, inside the venue. As the chants became louder, although unable to disrupt the meeting, English commented, “…about them, I can’t do anything,” and the audience in the hall chuckled.
Supposedly, a member of protesters sneaked past through in the meeting as a general member of the public, and managed to ask a direct question to the minister that "why were students allowed at the first place to enter New Zealand by the NZ immigration if their documents were fake?" To which the minister replied cautiously by first acknowledging, that “it would have been best if their documents had been scrutinised before students got inside New Zealand.” And subsequently reiterating government's standard response on the issue that “the law states that if your documents are fake then you have to go.”
It should be noted that the minister has acknowledged the distress caused to students in such situation where their documents were found to be fake after arrived in the country.
Later, the questioner returned to protestors outside and announced that they will be taking students' cause to the judiciary, suggesting that their hopes with the government were almost vanquished.
The Indian-origin MP Dr Parmar maintained a silence and chose not to comment on this issue in the meeting.
The student requested the government for a more sympathetic approach towards the issue.
“We request amnesty from the government, as we have not committed a crime, it’s the scrupulous agents and colleges here that have duped us of thousands of dollars,” said Sunil Chinta, the victimised student.
“Every passing day is a nightmare for us, we [are] stressed to a point where it seems [like there is] no hope for us. The Indian representatives in the parliament have even refused to acknowledge our plea,” said exasperated Hafiz Syed, a protesting student.
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