A newly-elected Member of Parliament in New Zealand, Gaurav Sharma, recently took oath in Sanskrit and has, ever since, become the topic of discussion.
Sharma, 33, who hails from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur, was recently elected as the Member of Parliament from the Labour Party for Hamilton West in New Zealand.
Gaurav first took the oath in New Zealand’s indigenous Maori language followed by India’s classical language Sanskrit. This way, he believes, he showed equal respect to the culture of both the countries that he represents.
Sharma, who did his MBBS from Auckland and MBA from Washington, is working as a General Practitioner (GP) in Nawton, Hamilton.
When asked by one user on Twitter that why he didn’t take oath in Hindi, he said that it is difficult to keep everyone happy so he chooses Sanskrit as it pays homage to all the Indian languages.
“To be honest I did think of that, but then there was the question of doing it in Pahari (my first language) or Punjabi. Hard to keep everyone happy. Sanskrit made sense as it pays homage to all the Indian languages (including the many I can’t speak),” he said in a tweet.
Here’s how people on the internet reacted to the same:
This is all about "Freedom", rising above petty Politics.
— Arvind Maheshwari ?? (@arvind_Navy) November 25, 2020
Yes, that's what happens when you have a progressive liberal government that doesn't demonise it's people, especially it's minorities.
— Perpetual_Saapadu_Ramen (@mangalamsaar) November 25, 2020
our best wishes Dr Sharma and good luck for days ahead in your office. Vandae matharam!
— Shekar (@bangaloreshekar) November 25, 2020
People like him bring Laurel to country and culture . He is 1000 miles away from India , But India is still within him . Goosebumps !!
— Neeraj Pandey (@pandeyneeraj4u) November 25, 2020
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