A pro-Khalistan protest in Auckland on Saturday turned out to be a near no-show, as just about everyone from New Zealand’s Sikh community showed no interest in the demonstration.
At least 75,000 Sikhs live in the country but only fewer than 30 people turned up at Mahatma Gandhi Centre on November 2 for the gathering, despite the organisers having solicited support for weeks across several religious places in the city.
Community leaders said the cold response was little surprise, pointing to the strong sense of patriotism among the Indian diaspora in the country.
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, the first person of Indian descent to have become a Member of Parliament in New Zealand, said the separatist push was limited to only a “tiny and vocal minority”.
“For most Sikhs here, the Khalistan issue holds minor to no significance. The Sikh community primarily focuses on building successful lives in New Zealand while maintaining cultural and religious ties with India.”
Manjit Singh of Waikato Senior Citizen Indian Association, settled in Hamilton for 22 years, agreed with Bakshi. “We have friends from different religions-Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs from Pakistan, India and Fiji in New Zealand. I think all the communities live very friendly lives in this lovely country.”
Gurdwara Sikh Sangat Tauranga described the protests as “divisive agenda”. “The management committee…outrightly rejected the Khalistani ideology and clarified that it doesn’t not support any such divisive agenda,” a committee member said.
“The committee unanimously further stated that they wish to follow the age-old Sikh tenet of ‘manas ki jaat sabhe eko pehchanbo’ as all Sikh and Hindus are brothers and sisters, and any attempt to wedge a divide between them will not be tolerated.”
Prithipal Singh Basra, the Chairman of New Zealand Central Sikh Association-an umbrella group of 25 gurdwaras in the country-did not respond to email and phone queries by The Indian Weekender.
A community leader, who did not wish to be identified, said Kiwi-Indians were disappointed that senior Sikh leaders had not equivocally denounced the separatist Khalistani agenda in the last few weeks.
Kiwi-Indian community leaders have been befuddled lately to see a US citizen working for an organisation India has banned for spreading Khalistan terrorism fuelling hate in New Zealand without any consequences.
Avtar Singh Pannu, a member of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) that is banned by the Indian government, arrived in New Zealand a few days back and has been canvassing across religious places.
At a separatist protest organised last week, a group of people tore the Indian national flag and delivered hate speeches, following which the country’s biggest Indian diaspora organisation-New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA)-had requested Police Minister Mark Mitchell to intervene.
The government’s response has been non-committal. Mitchell’s office has cited the right to free speech but said the police will ensure the protest doesn’t disrupt law and order.
But NZICA President Narendra Bhana says the protests “bring to light significant concerns regarding New Zealand Immigration Services”.
“Despite a well documented history of Khalistani groups overseas, there appears to have been no proactive measures by Immigration Services to identify and monitor individuals with disruptive intentions entering New Zealand,” Bhana said in a written statement after the protest on November 2.