On The Up: Hawke’s Bay concert unites Indian and Pakistan communities

Syed Khurram Iqbal from Pakistan and Friends Hawke’s Bay Association (left) embraces Mohindar Nagra from the Hawke's Bay Indian Community. Photo / Jack Riddell

Two communities in serious conflict elsewhere in the world have come together in Hawke’s Bay in an effort for peace.

On April 22, an attack by militants in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 civilians, mostly Hindu tourists, for which India blamed Pakistan.

What followed in the weeks afterwards was an armed offensive between the two nuclear-armed neighbours that included a series of missile and drone strikes, which finished on May 10 when a fragile ceasefire was achieved.

The stand-off thousands of kilometres away helped the Hawke’s Bay Indian Community and the Pakistan and Friends Hawke’s Bay Association come together to deliver a message of peace, unity and cultural harmony with a free concert celebrating South Asian heritage and common cultures.

The Virsa Heritage Music Festival is a free community event at Toitoi in Hastings on Saturday, June 21, taking united people of all backgrounds through an evening of Sufi music, Ghazals and Punjabi folk melodies and vibrant cultural performances from other cultures living in Hawke’s Bay.

Syed Khurram Iqbal from the Pakistan and Friends Hawke’s Bay Association said after the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019, misinformation spread very easily and he is doing all he can to make sure it stops.

“We are living in peace and harmony in Hawke’s Bay,” Iqbal said.

“Let’s show this unity to the wider community, to the world that New Zealand is united, that we are enjoying life in New Zealand and we are not allowing the penetration of international politics here.”

Mohindar Nagra from the Hawke’s Bay Indian Community said it’s important to get all communities together, especially in time of war and fighting, to share in each other’s company and cultures.

“We have no bad feelings towards anyone,” he said.

“We have good friends and families and that’s why we are having this concert – to get communities from around Hawke’s Bay together.

“We are always here for the Pakistan community and they are always there for us, helping each other. Nobody wants to fight.”

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin and Napier.