Friday, March 29, 2024
ADVT 
International

Mumbai-Born Mahesh Bindra Hopes For Second Term In New Zealand Parliament

Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Sep, 2018 12:56 PM
    With his first three-year term as a Member of Parliament in New Zealand behind him, Mumbai-born Mahesh Bindra is biding his time for the next phase of his engagement in his adopted country's public life.
     
     
    "With some luck I might get a second term, but irrespective of that I enjoy being part of politics in a democratically vibrant country," Bindra told IANS on the sidelines of the recently-concluded World Hindu Congress in Lombard near here where he was a special invitee.
     
     
    Travelling to New Zealand with his wife and three children in 2002, Bindra has attained a position of political prominence after becoming an MP in 2014. From being a principal correctional officer at the Mount Eden prison, which then had 400 inmates, Bindra's career took a political turn when he asked a tough question of Winston Peters, leader of the controversial New Zealand First party who is also the country's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, at a public gathering.
     
     
    Peters and his party had the reputation for race-baiting and Bindra being an outspoken man wanted to find out the truth for himself. A candid exchange with Peters prompted the latter to invite Bindra to join the party and consider politics. "I come from a political family. My father was an active member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. When Peters asked me to consider a political career it seemed like a natural progression," he said.
     
     
    He became a member of NZ First in 2006 over cautions of fellow Indian immigrants, many of whom thought Peters and his party were racist. "I studied the party's policies closely. In fact, Peters even asked me to make policy suggestions over immigration. My many interactions told me that the perceptions of NZ First being racist were unfounded and in fact Peters and others were open to suggestion," he said.
     
     
    When he first contested for parliament from the Mount Roskill constituency in the city of Auckland in 2011, he got 419 votes and was placed 21st on the party list. It was only after he began rising steadily that in 2014 he was elected to parliament under New Zealand's rather complex electoral system. Although his first term ended last year, there are strong expectations that he will return in 2020.
     
     
    During his term as MP, Bindra was appointed spokesman for Corrections, Customs, Ethnic Affairs and Land Information New Zealand.
     
     
    In a country where the aboriginal Maori population constitutes about 15 percent of the total of 4.74 million people, Bindra won their hearts when he took his oath in the Maori language apart from English. He said the Maori members were "overcome" by his gesture. "I told them it was my way of respecting and acknowledging the original inhabitants of New Zealand," he said.
     
     
    Bindra said he is conscious of the fact that the Maori make up more than 50 per cent of the prison population and wants to continue his engagement to address the often unjust legal system. "Race relations in New Zealand are, by and large, healthy, but we have our own challenges. As an immigrant, I feel it is my duty to play my part in improving them, especially for the Maori people," he said.
     
     
    Bindra sees himself as a long-term politician dedicated to represent New Zealand in "the best possible way I can". He believes that Indians in their adopted countries around the world must get involved in politics at all levels "because that is the best way to assimilate and get heard".

    MORE International ARTICLES

    India, US Homeland Security Officials Discuss Draft On Counterterrorism

    India, US Homeland Security Officials Discuss Draft On Counterterrorism
    Ahead of the maiden two-plus-two dialogue between India and the United States, top homeland security officials of the two countries have worked on a draft plan related to six areas, including anti-terror cooperation in intelligence sharing, terror financing and cyber security.

    India, US Homeland Security Officials Discuss Draft On Counterterrorism

    This Photo Of An Injured Baby Rhino Next To Mother Killed By Poachers Has Left People Heartbroken

    This Photo Of An Injured Baby Rhino Next To Mother Killed By Poachers Has Left People Heartbroken
    The one-month-old was spared only because he was too young to develop the double horns, reason why his mother was hacked to death. But the little one was still badly hurt as they lashed out with their machetes, seriously injuring the calf’s back and his right foot.

    This Photo Of An Injured Baby Rhino Next To Mother Killed By Poachers Has Left People Heartbroken

    ISIS Man Jailed For Life Over Terror Plot To Assassinate UK PM Theresa May

    Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman had been convicted of preparing acts of terrorism at the end of a trial in July after it was claimed he wanted to bomb the gates of 10 Downing Street, kill guards and then attack the British Prime Minister with a knife or a gun.

    ISIS Man Jailed For Life Over Terror Plot To Assassinate UK PM Theresa May

    Ahead Of High-Level Talks With India, US Says 'No Change' For H-1B Visas

    Ahead Of High-Level Talks With India, US Says 'No Change' For H-1B Visas
    H-1B Visa Row: Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior official of the Trump Administration acknowledged that it was prepared for India raising the H-1B issue at the high-level 2+2 dialogue

    Ahead Of High-Level Talks With India, US Says 'No Change' For H-1B Visas

    Meghna Sahoo, MBA Graduate From Odisha, Becomes India's First Transgender Cab Driver

    Meghna Sahoo, MBA Graduate From Odisha, Becomes India's First Transgender Cab Driver
    A Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Human Resource (HR) and Marketing, Meghna Sahoo is India's first transgender cab driver, hailing from Bhubaneswar.

    Meghna Sahoo, MBA Graduate From Odisha, Becomes India's First Transgender Cab Driver

    Pakistan Culture Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan Apologizes To Actors

    Pakistan Culture Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan Apologizes To Actors
    A Pakistani Minister in Punjab province has apologized to two women actors after coming under widespread attack for publicly using indecent language against them, the media reported on Friday.

    Pakistan Culture Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan Apologizes To Actors