Venkat Raman
Speeches, music and dance are on the cards as a number of organisations celebrate the 70th Independence Day of India throughout New Zealand.
Festivities would be held for a week from August 15, the midnight on which India obtained freedom in 1947 through peaceful means and after decades of struggle by freedom fighters and common people in India.
Post-Independent India has seen years of challenges, natural disasters and impressive progress with its teeming millions fostering one cherished concept: Democracy and Government of the People, By the People and For the People. The country’s phenomenal progress since market reforms were introduced 25 years ago, more so since the current Bharatiya Janata Party Government led by Narendra Modi came to power after a stunning victory in the 2014 General Elections.
More of these in our Special Report on August 15, 2017.
Indian High Commission
This year’s festivities will be led by Indian High Commissioner Sanjeev Kohli with a flag-hoisting ceremony at his official residence in Lower Hutt.
The Indian High Commission is organising two grand events, one each in Wellington on Friday, August 18, 2017 (from 6 pm at Bharat Bhawan of the Wellington Indian Association at Kilbirnie) and on Sunday, August 20, 2017 in Auckland (from 3 pm at Mahatma Gandhi Centre of the Auckland Indian Association, 145 New North Road, Eden Terrace).
Among the highlights of both events would be performances by ‘Dhwani Academy,’ a Kathak Institute established in New Delhi in 1999 in memory of the legendary Pandit Shambhu Maharaj and a Rock Fusion Concert.
Waitakere Indian Association
The Waitakere Indian Association will showcase unity and diversity at its celebrations scheduled to be held with a flag hoisting ceremony at 7 am at the Te Atatu Peninsula Community Centre, 595 Te Atatu Road.
“We are requesting our community members and friends of the Indian community to join us in the morning; it is only a small sacrifice compared to what our ancestors had given to ensure that we and the generations to come can enjoy a free and prosperous India,” Association Vice-President Sunil Kaushal said.
Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust
The Trust announced that it is organising the Independence Day celebrations at 1030 am at Shri Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan Community Hall, located at 14 Princes Street in Onehunga in Auckland.
