Republic Day Celebration across New Zealand
The 75th Republic Day of India was celebrated with lot of joy and enthusiasm at many places across New Zealand including at the Indian High Commission in Wellington on 26th January and in the big city in Auckland on Sunday 28th January at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre at Eden Terrace. A decent number of people turned up at both venues and took part in National flag hoisting, sang national anthem, and enjoyed cultural performances from various community groups.
At the Indian High Commission of India at Wellington, High Commissioner H.E. Neeta Bhushan unfurled the tricolour to join a large turnout of people singing Indian national anthem. The HighCommissioner then read out the message from the President of India Draupadi Murmu, outlining unprecedented progress India has made in every sphere of life in past 10 years time. President praised the present government for its pro active and progressive attitude to put the country on top at the world map. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) that sends local talents from all over country as its cultural ambassadors across the globe chose a group of folk singers and dancers from Rajasthan to send to New Zealand this year. The accomplished artists of the group performed Rajasthani folk songs and dances amid thunderous applause from the crowd.
The Republic Day event was celebrated in the big city Auckland as well, jointly by the Indian High Commission, Auckland Indian Association and Bhartiya Samaj at Mahatma Gandhi Centre at Eden Terrace on Sunday 28th January. Hon Consul Bhav Dhillon was the chief guest at the programme and a couple of Members of Parliament and several community leaders apart from a large gathering of Diaspora community participated in the Republic Day celebration. Programme started with flag hoisting of National flag and singing of national anthem by all present and then several cultural performances by various community groups followed.
In his address, Hon Consul Bhav Dhillon thanked all community organisations for coming together to celebrate Republic Day with lot of fervour. He also thanked members of community for their whole hearted participation in the Ayodhya in Eden Park event to make it a huge success. Bhav Dhillon out lined the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Amrit Kaal of India to make the country a developed nation by 2047. Hon Consul informed the gathering that after a lot of deliberations the government of India has finally agreed to open a full Consulate General office in Auckland by end of this year. He said it will be a big bonanza for the 200k strong people of Indian Diaspora who live in Auckland and will not need to depend on Wellington once the new Consulate General is functional.
The folk artists group that performed at the High Commission event performed at Mahatma Gandhi Centre also and mesmerised the audiences with their soulful rendering of folk songs and spectacular dance performances. This cultural folk artists group from Rajasthan will stage their last performance at Bharatiya Mandir at Balmoral Road in Auckland on Wednesday 31st January before flying back to India the same night. A large number of devotees are expected to attend the program at Bharatiya Mandir and Mahaprasad will be served to all.-Yugal Parashar