Indians in New Zealand are once again enjoying their unique position of leading the global celebrations of sixty-ninth anniversary of India’s Republic Day.
January 26 marks the day when the Republic of India was born in 1950, and this year India is celebrating its sixty-ninth anniversary.
Several events have been held so far since morning by different community organisations and many more to follow later in the day, involving hoisting of India’s national flag and singing of the national anthem.
However, the main public celebration under the aegis of the Government of India was held in Wellington, where the Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand, Sanjiv Kohli, led an enthusiastic crowd of more than 200 people in the hoisting of national flag and singing of national anthem.
The High Commission hosted a public function this morning for the community which included members of the diaspora, community leaders, and business leaders.
Mr Kohli officially read out President Ramnath Kovind’s message on the occasion which was followed by a small cultural program.
Meanwhile, another official, and invitation-only event is also planned this evening at the High Commission of India, which will be attended by key diplomats and government officials.
In Auckland, the city of sails, and New Zealand’s largest city, where a whopping 80 per cent of Indian diaspora resides, several community events brought together people from different walks of life to celebrate India’s Republic Day.
The New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA), the oldest association of Kiwi-Indians in New Zealand, which has just completed 90 years last year held an event in the iconic Mahatma Gandhi Centre to hoist the flag and sing the national anthem.
However, the laurels of hosting the first official event of the celebrations of sixty-ninth anniversary of India’s Republic Day went to the newly opened Consulate of India in Auckland.
The Honorary Consul General of India, Bhav Dhillion, along with his wife Mrs Ruby Dhillon, hosted a small reception of more than 60-70 community representatives at their residence early morning at 8.00 a.m., where the flag was hoisted, and the national anthem was sung.
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The event witnessed participation from almost all major community organisations viz. Auckland Indian Association (AIA), NZICA, Manukau Indian Association (aka Indian Association of New Zealand), NZ Telugu Association, Telangana Association of NZ, Gujaratis Samaj, Bihar-Jharkhand Samaj of NZ, Bhartiya Samaj, and many more.
Some of the key community leaders present on the occasion included Bhiku Bana of NZICA, Harshad Patel of AIA, Sunny Kaushal of Crime Prevention Group, Paramjeet Dhatt of Manukau Indian Association, Jeet Suchdev of Bhartiya Samaj, Roshan Nauhria of Balmoral temple, Dinesh Pahuja of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, Kalyan Rao and Vijay Kosana of Telangana Association.
The guests had braved the Auckland weather, which chose to drizzle just before flag hoisting as if to test their enthusiasm for the Republic day celebrations.
Mr Dhillon gave a brief speech immediately after singing of national anthem summarising the current Indian growth story and the inclusivity of the Indian diaspora in that growth story.
The occasion was also graced by the newly elected Kiwi-Indian MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan of the Labour Party.
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