The organiser of a Tauranga Sikh parade interrupted by protesters carrying a “This is New Zealand, not India” banner says the incident will not stop the community holding events in the city.
About 3000 people had gathered on Sunday for the 12th year of the Nagar Kirtan parade, honouring the birth of a Sikh guru.
The parade started at 11am at the Gurudwara Sikh Sangat temple on Burrows St, and continued along 14th Ave to Tauranga Boys’ College for refreshments.
Gurudwara Sikh Sangat president and parade organiser Puran Singh said that while at the school, he was alerted to protesters near Memorial Park.
The park was originally planned as one of the parade stops, but Singh said after discussions with police, the group instead went straight back down 14th Ave to finish the parade at the temple.
Singh said about 1pm on 14th Ave, protesters arrived “in front” of the parade and started to perform a haka.
Singh said the confrontation lasted about 10 minutes. He interpreted the protesters’ message as “go back to India”.
Despite this experience, Singh said Sikhs would “continue to hold our events for the Tauranga community in the future”.
A spokesperson for the protest group, which also disrupted a Sikh parade in South Auckland last month, said they planned to continue demonstrating.
The True Patriots of New Zealand group, which has been linked to Brian Tamaki and Destiny Church, describes itself as “Guardians of the Kiwi Way of Life; Defenders of Faith, Flag & Family”. They stand against “globalism, mass immigration, and woke ideology”.
The group livestreamed the protest with a caption describing it as an effort “to protect our Kiwi way of life”, and stating: “Our streets should not be flooded with Sikh parades with swords and daggers.”
Singh said Sunday was the first time a protest had interrupted the “peaceful” parade in Tauranga.
He said the Sikh community did not want “any harassment or violence”.
The parade was “not a show of power” and was rather a celebration of “prayer, music, humility, and service to the wider community”.
Singh, who has lived in New Zealand for 32 years and whose children were born here, described the country as “proudly multicultural”.
Sikhs had been part of “New Zealand’s story” since the late 1800s, he said.
“New Zealand is not new to Sikhs – and Sikhs are not new to New Zealand.”
Singh praised police for doing a “very good” job managing the situation and ensuring the parade could continue “as normal”.
Multicultural Tauranga president Premila D’Mello, who witnessed the protest from the roadside, said the disruption was “deeply disappointing” and confronting for many in the Sikh community.
“This is not who we are as New Zealanders,” she said.
D’Mello said that while people had the right to protest, the location and timing were inappropriate given the religious nature of the event, which had no connection to immigration or political debates.
She said the protest was intimidating, particularly as the parade had always been welcomed in Tauranga.
D’Mello said members of the Sikh community responded with restraint, standing together, holding hands and refusing to engage with the protesters until police cleared the route and the procession continued.
She was encouraged by the response from the wider public, saying that many Māori, Pacific and other locals stood along the parade route after the protest, “offering words of apology, kindness, and encouragement”.
The incident highlighted how important it was for Tauranga to continue protecting religious freedom, mutual respect and the dignity of all communities, D’Mello said.
A True Patriots spokesperson said the group wanted a national debate about New Zealand’s future and would continue demonstrating “peacefully and lawfully”.
They shared Tamaki’s concerns that “mass immigration without assimilation is destroying the Kiwi way of life”.
The spokesperson said the haka protesters performed was not violent or intimidating – “it is our culture“.
“This was not hate. This was self-preservation.”
They believed New Zealand was built on Christian values and should have “no public displays of foreign religions on our streets”.
Multiculturalism had “failed” and other countries were “tightening immigration settings to protect their people, culture, and future”, they said.
“New Zealand cannot afford to be the last to realise this.”
Ray Freeman, director of Protech Solutions – the security company hired by parade organisers for the event – said a 10-person guard team worked with police throughout the incident.
He described the protest as “well-organised” and said that although there was “definite volatility”, it remained “respectful”.
Aside from some protesters who were becoming “a bit toey” being held back, there were no physical altercations, Freeman said.
Inspector Christopher Summerville, of the Māori Pacific Ethnic Service, Bay of Plenty Police, said police were there to support public safety and “maintain order” after an “unrelated group attempted to disrupt” the parade.
Officers intervened “immediately”, Summerville said.
No arrests were made at the parade, and additional patrols remained in the area to provide “visibility and reassurance” for the Sikh community.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.