The performers travelled to New Zealand last month as part of a group accompanying Bollywood singer Shibani Kashyap for Holi celebrations around the country. However, they overstayed in the country despite their visas being expired.
The Consulate General of India in New Zealand’s Auckland has supported the visa applications of more than two dozen people who attended a Holi event in the city as part of a ‘cultural delegation’ last month.
According to RNZ, the Indian diplomatic mission in Auckland has sent a support letter for 29 visa applicants. The letter said that the Delhi-based CD Foundation was working with the consulate and spearheading the ‘cultural diplomacy initiative’.
Eighteen people from the group arrived in New Zealand. Of those, three have since left the country and 15 remained in the country, according to Immigration New Zealand.
The performers travelled to New Zealand last month as part of a group accompanying Bollywood singer Shibani Kashyap for Holi celebrations around the country.
However, even after the celebration, many of the performers stayed in the country despite their visa being expired. New Zealand’s immigration agency then started a campaign to contact the performers. The agency told RNZ that investigation teams would review information relating to the visas issued to the cultural performers.
CD Foundation in focus
The Holi event was organised by CD Foundation. Founded by Charu Das, the Foundation has previously been involved in cultural exchanges between New Zealand and India.
In August last year, CD Foundation organised a New Zealand chapter of the ‘World & Us’ cultural exchange series in Auckland, Hamilton and Whangarei. This was followed by an Indian chapter in January, where a 30-member Māori delegation participated in cultural exchanges in three Indian states- Delhi, Telangana and Odisha.
Meanwhile, Bollywood singer Shibani Kashyap distanced herself from the overstayer issue. In a statement, she said, “I’m very upset that my name has been dragged into this without any clarification from me,” adding that she travelled alone for the event and did not bring musicians or performers with her”. “Visas and tickets are highly expensive so I never travel with a group of musicians to countries like New Zealand because it’s next to impossible.”
CD Foundation also confirmed that Kashyap was in no way responsible for the whole incident. In a statement, the Foundation said, “… Kashyap is not associated with any individual members of the wider cultural delegation, other than her professional engagement with CD Foundation as a featured artist for the programme, with CD Foundation being the organising body coordinating the event.”
The statement, however, didn’t include any reference to those who had overstayed their visas.
According to the report, members of the group who overstayed have contacted the local legal experts to prolong their visa validity. Immigration adviser Jagjeet Singh confirmed that two men had approached him. Singh said that both men were on limited visas and he had advised them to return to India.
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