Prominent Sikh community leader Harbans Singh Randhawa, aged 88 died at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton on Thursday, April 6.
Mr Randhawa, who served the community for more than four decades, played an integral role in establishing a strong Sikh community in New Zealand. He was the founding member of the New Zealand Sikh Society which was formed in 1964. He also laid the foundation stone of the first Sikh religious centre in New Zealand in 1977, Gurudwara Sahib Ji on Te Rapa Road, Hamilton.
Mr Randhawa was born in 1928 in a village in Punjab, India. He completed his schooling in Jalandhar City and later joined the Indian Army services at Jalandhar Cantonment. In 1945 he married Srimati Bakshish Kaur in Jalandhar.
Mr Randhawa came to New Zealand in 1949 and joined his father, Mr Inder Singh Randhawa on the family farm near Taumarunui. Mr Randhawa’s wife, mother and elder sons, Ajit and Jarnail acceded to the family in New Zealand in 1953. After spending several years back in India, he settled with his wife on a dairy farm in Waikato in 1963.
He served the Central Indian Association, and he was awarded a life membership of the NZ Sikh Society for his decades of services and contribution to the community.
In 1991, he was awarded the Hind Rattan Award by the Indian Prime Minister for his outstanding service among the Indian Diasporas. He was also awarded the Queens Service Medal in the year 2000 by the Governor-General of New Zealand.
Community leaders and members of the NZ Sikh Society attended Mr Randhawa’s memorial service at the Hamilton Park Crematorium Chapel in Hamilton on Tuesday, April 11 at 11.30 a.m. This was followed by a religious ceremony at the first Sikh Gurudwara, Te Rapa in Hamilton.
Mr Randhawa is survived by his sons, daughters and grandchildren.
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