New Zealand Parliament hosted Everest Day celebrations for the second time on its premises on Wednesday, June 9, after the first such celebrations back in 2019.
The event was organized by the Nepal Society of New Zealand and few other Nepalicommunity associations and was hosted in NZ parliament by Kiwi-Indian MP of Labour Party Dr Gaurav Sharma.
More than 300 members of the Nepalese community and the wider ethnic communities attended the event from all around New Zealand.
The celebratory event witnessed Nepalese people dressed in their colourful traditional attires, reflecting many local cultural groups from Nepal’s diverse society. For the uninitiated, Nepal is a country of 101 ethnic groups 123 different languages.
Nepal and New Zealand has a 68-year-old relationship when Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa from Nepal put their foot in the highest peak of the world for the very first time on May 29, 1953.
Since then, there has been a special relationship between Nepal and New Zealand, which has grown further with the growing size of the Nepalese community in New Zealand.
The Everest Day event in parliament was attended by several Ministers from the government, including Minister of Ethnic Communities Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Minister of Transport Michael Wood, Several Members of Parliament, along with acting ambassador for Nepal to New Zealand who came to celebrate the event all the way from Nepalese Embassy Canberra, Australia.
The inauguration of the event was jointly done by the president of the Nepalese Society of Wellington Prakshit Niraula and Labour MP Dr Sharma according to the Sherpa tradition.
Speaking on occasion, Dr Gaurav Sharma recalled his own connection with Nepal, which prompted him to host the event in parliament when Dinesh Khadka, the previous president of Nepal Society of New Zealand, put up the proposal to hold such an event in parliament.
“I was born in the Indian state of Himanchal Pradesh which is very similar to Nepal in geography, food, customs and culture, and therefore I always have a very special place for Nepalese community in my heart,” Dr Sharma said.
He also mentioned that he got a chance to visit Everest Base Camp back in the year 2015.
Speaking on occasion, Minister of Transport Michael Wood said, “I always love to come to celebrate Nepalese event and always more than happy to help Nepalese community people when needed.”
Acting Ambassador for Nepal to New Zealand Ms Durpada Sapkota thanked the New Zealand government for helping 1 Million dollars to Nepal government during this pandemic.
She also mentioned that this pandemic would end very soon, and the Nepal government is very excited to welcome Kiwis back to Nepal.
The president of Himalayan trust Peter Hillary, the son of Edmund Hillary, said that this organization has already made hospitals and schools in the Himalayan region of Nepal. He also said that they also have other projects that will continue very soon once the pandemic will over.
The Hon Consul of Nepal in New Zealand Atma Ram Khanal, Non-Resident Nepalese Association New Zealand president Lal KC, Tourism Ambassador Ramil Adhikari, along with other community leaders, also participated in the event.
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