The Organisation will also work with Common People for Common Good
Venkat Raman
Auckland, April 5, 2022
Indian Newslink is happy to announce that Associations representing the five South Indian States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala have come together to form the Federation of South Indian Associations New Zealand, striking a common ground for cooperation and collaboration in several areas.
Associations and Officials
Initiated by this publication, which is also a founding member and a member of the newly formed Executive Committee, the Federation comprises Mana Andhra Telugu Association New Zealand (MATA NZ), Telangana Association of New Zealand (TANZ), Auckland Tamil Association (AIA), New Zealand Kannada Koota (NZKK) and Auckland Malayali Samajam (AMS), represented by their respected Presidents. Indian Newslink is represented by its Editor and General Manager.
At its meeting held recently, the founding members elected Dr Reginald Samuel (President, MATA NZ) to the post of President, Vai Ravindran (President, AIA) to the post of Vice-President, Narender Reddy Patlola (President, TANZ) to the post of General Secretary, Soby Bernard Thomas (President, Auckland Malayali Samajam) to the post of Joint Secretary and Vishu Lokapal (President, New Zealand Kannada Koota) to the post of Treasurer.
The general body, at the current stage of its formation, comprises two members of each of the five associations and Indian Newslink to provide broader representation within the South Indian communities.
There is a provision to include registered South Indian Associations from all over New Zealand, which we understand would be in stages.
FSIANZ has been registered with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies and is currently completing other formalities to comply with the provisions of its Constitution and the rules and regulations of the government.
No Politics, Religion or Controversy
Dr Reginald said that FSIANZ is a cultural, non-political, non-religious and non-sectarian Federation, made up of Indian Newslink as the Principal Initiator, and comprising Presidents of Associations of South Indian origin serving the communities of the five States of South India (including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka).
“The State of Pondicherry (or Puducherry), a Union Territory of India bounded by Tamil Nadu may be considered for Membership should there be an application made by a duly registered Association representing people of this region or State. Similarly, the Federation may consider appropriate status to specific language groups, if found necessary, on an application made by a registered organisation representing such a group or groups,” he said.
He said that the Mission of the Federation is to help, support, train and build stronger, self-reliant and resilient South Indian communities.
Promoting community welfare
“We are also keen to promote the welfare of the resident migrant communities by preserving, practicing and delivering rich and inter-cultural values of communities. The Federation will launch projects and programmes in education, arts, culture, language, sports, employment training, sustainable development and empowerment of women, children, youth, adults and seniors as a part of its efforts to achieve its objectives,” he said.
Dr Reginald said that he was honoured to be elected the first President of FSIANZ.
“I thank all the Presidents of the Member Associations and Indian Newslink for their overwhelming support and confidence bestowed in me. We will work as a team to give FSIANZ a powerful voice in New Zealand. We will collectively work towards the betterment of our South Indian communities and promote their culture, heritage, values and welfare,” he said.
The other office-bearers said they will foster the objective of the Federation to cultivate, promote, foster, and develop the advancement of knowledge in the four main languages of South India, namely Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, their literature, culture, cuisine, costumes and heritage.
“Other languages spoken in South India may be considered for promotion if deemed necessary by the General Meeting on the advice of the Executive Committee,” they said.
Dr Reginald said that the Federation will work as a team.
“A team is like a toolset, not one tool can do all the jobs, but together it can and therefore we have joined our hands together to work with team spirit in the day-to-day functioning of our Federation and for the well-being of our people, community, society and New Zealand as a whole,” he said.
Topography and History
The five States of South India plus the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and the State of Puducherry occupy 19% of India’s area (635,780 sq kms or 245,480 square miles). Covering the Southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau, South India is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the East, the Arabian Sea in the West and the Indian Ocean in the South.
The geography of the region is diverse with two mountain ranges–the Western and Eastern Ghats, bordering the plateau heartland.
Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Tungabhadra, Periyar and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. The Capital Cities are Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Bengaluru or Bangalore (Karnataka), Thiruvananthapuram or Trivandrum (Kerala), Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Hyderabad (Telangana). Among the major cities in these States are Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwar, Belgaum, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Kochi and Kozhikode, Warangal, Khammam, Nalgonda.
A majority of the people in South India speak one of the four major Dravidian languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.
Human Development Index is high and the economy has undergone growth at a faster rate than most northern states. Literacy rates in the Southern States are higher than the national average with approximately 80% of the population capable of reading and writing. The fertility rate in South India is 1.9, the lowest of all regions in India.
Festivals of South India
The Second Annual Festivals of South India, showcasing the Culture, Cuisine and Costumes of the five States will be held on Monday, May 23, 2022, at Mahatma Gandhi Centre, 145 New North Road, Eden Terrace, Auckland City.
The event, commencing at 6 pm, will include a vegetarian dinner featuring the popular dishes of Andhra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
Transport, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood, Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan and several MPs representing Labour, National and ACT Parties, along with the office-bearers of FSIANZ and the five South Indian Associations and other community leaders will be present at the event.
Further details will be published shortly.
