'Deeply honoured': New Zealand's Indian-origin MP takes oath in Sanskrit, netizens love it

Indian-origin Dr Gaurav Sharma, elected as the member of the parliament in New Zealand took oath in Sanskrit on November 25 and is “only the second person ever” to do it. Internet users are hailing as “making history” and crediting Sharma for making them “feel proud of being Indian”. A video shared by the New Zealand MP on social media taking affirmation in the 3,500-year-old ancient language of Sanskrit went viral. The 31-year-old originally hails from Himachal Pradesh and won the election in the Kiwi nation as the candidate for Labour Party from hamilton West.

Sharma had first taken the affirmation in indigenous language Maori and then in Sanskrit. The video of the ceremony showing the 31-year-old was even shared by India’s High Commission to New Zealand Muktesh Pardeshi and hailed the New Zeland MP for showing “deep respect” to the cultural traditions of both nations. Sharma himself shared the clip on Facebook.

Sharma wrote in the caption, “Today I took my Affirmation of Allegiance to the Crown in Te Reo Māori, to acknowledge Tangata Whenua, and in Sanskrit, to acknowledge my Indian heritage. I have tried to learn Te Reo in the past through Unitec and learnt Sanskrit when I was in primary and middle school in India.”

“I am deeply honoured to be part of the 53rd New Zealand Parliament and look forward to serving fellow Hamiltonians as well as New Zealand over the next three years,” he added. 

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New Zealand MP delivers speech in Malayalam

Dr Gaurav Sharma is not the only New Zealand MP making history by honouring traditional languages, Priyanca Radhakrishnan became the first-ever Indian-origin minister in New Zealand earlier this week and since then her old video of addressing the parliament in the regional language of Malayalam is going viral on social media. The netizens have started calling her the “history maker” and credited her for “unlocking immigrant achievement” including Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. While sharing the three-year-old video on Twitter, Puri wrote in the caption on November 5 that the New Zealand lawmaker is making "India proud”. 

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