Hindu tinge to last Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Prime Minister of Hindu-majority Mauritius, the first Hindu member of the American Congress and two right-wing politicians from Norway and New Zealand will grace the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas next year.

The BJP government's last official engagement with the overseas Indian and Indian-origin people before the next parliamentary elections will be held on the banks of Ganga in Varanasi – the constituency Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents in Lok Sabha – from January 21 to 23 next year.

The delegates are expected to come from around the world to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and their brush with spirituality will not end just with the experience of being on the bank of the holy river and in the holy city. They will also be taken to neighbouring Allahabad, where thousands of devotees and ascetics from across the country will assemble for the “Ardh Kumbh” from January 15 to March 4. They will take holy dips at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical river Saraswati before returning to New Delhi by a special train on January 25. They will also take part in Republic Day ceremony in New Delhi on January 26, sources aware of the preparations for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas told DH.

Modi will inaugurate the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) on January 22, with Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius, being the chief guest in the inaugural ceremony.

Himansu Gulati, an Indian-origin leader of right-wing Progress Party of Norway, has been invited as a special guest at the Youth PBD, a congregation of the youths of the diaspora, which will be held on January 21.

The Progress Party is the third largest political party of Norway and is now a constituent of the centre-right coalition, which rules the Northwestern European country. Its leader Siv Jensen is the Finance Minister in Norwegian Prime Minister Ema Solberg's cabinet. It argues for a restrictive policy on allowing immigrants in Norway.

Far-right terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik, who massacred 77 people in Oslo and Utøya on July 22, 2011, was a former member of the Progress Party. The leaders of the Progress Party later stated that Breivik had quit because he had found its policies “too liberal”.

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, an Indian-origin member of New Zealand Parliament, is also likely to attend the PBD as a guest of honour. Bakshi is a member of centre-right National Party, which is now the official opposition party in New Zealand.

Tulsi Gabbard, a member of US House of Representative, will also be a guest of honour in the Youth PBD. She is the first Hindu member of the US Congress and had taken the oath of office on Hindu holy book Bhagwad Gita in 2013.