‘Concerned about Hindutva? No’: PM will be at controversial Narendra Modi party
Tuesday, 7 July 2026
An academic is calling it a Hindutva rally in disguise and a GP is calling it a security risk. ‒ but Christopher Luxon is calling it a celebration, and he’s going.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will spend just one day in Auckland as he tours countries in the South Pacific.
There will be two separate programmes: one organised by the New Zealand Government, which will include bilateral official meetings, a lunch, celebrations of the recently inked free-trade agreement between the two countries and a business showcase.
It’s understood there won’t be a joint press conference with Luxon and Modi ‒ Modi has not held a single press conference with Indian media since his election in 2014.
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On Saturday evening, there will then be the Kia Ora Modi event at Spark Arena, which is being promoted as expecting up to 12,000 people, and is being organised by the Indian High Commission.
Massey University Professor Mohan J. Dutta is warning politicians to stay away from the Kia Ora Modi rally, saying it is a textbook effort by Modi, his BJP party and his supporters to promote the Hindutva ideology.
“It's more like a rock show, and what that kind of spectacle is designed to do is actually recruit more followers into Hindutva, and embolden the presence of Hindutva.“
Hindutva is a strain of Hindu nationalism which has grown in prominence, internationally and in New Zealand, since the election of Modi's BJP party.
Dutta, who has researched the ideology extensively, says Hindutva constructs India as a monolithic Hindu nation and is fundamentally built on the exclusion and expulsion of Muslims and Christians.
He pointed to mosques and churches being vandalised in India, and a number of high-profile public mob lynchings of Muslims, as a result of rising cultural nationalist ideologies.
India has also fallen down V-Dem’s Liberal Democracy Index under Modi’s leadership and is now considered an “electoral autocracy”, and ranked globally at 100 of 179 countries.
The 2025 report says: “Prime Minister Modi’s derailing of democracy is thoroughly documented, including deteriorations in freedom of expression and independence of the media, harassments of journalists critical of the government, attacks on civil society and the opposition using laws on sedition, defamation and counter-terrorism.”
Dutta said events like the Kia Ora Modi event were concerning to a group within the Kiwi Indian diaspora, particularly Indian Sikhs, Indian Muslims, Indian Christians and many Hindu Indians, like him, who don't subscribe to Hindutva ideology.
“Events like this are concerning because they embolden, or are seen to embolden, Hindutva.“
He did not think it was appropriate for Luxon to attend the event.
Auckland GP Dr Sapna Samant agreed. She had her Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status revoked for “causing disharmony” after criticising Modi's administration
“This is a really important event in the sense of a gathering of Hindutva, right-wing ideology, people, and it further embeds that ideology within the social structure of New Zealand. It's a real security issue.”
She expected a number of party leaders would attend.
“They will make fools of themselves trying to do some Bollywood dance, as a way to pander to their potential voters, because they see Indians as their voters, and are showcasing how multicultural they are.”
Luxon said he was planning on being part of the event.
“People ties is one of the three big legs of this relationship. We have economic and trade components to it, we have security and defence components to it, and we obviously also have community components, parts to it. And I'll be celebrating with the community, as has happened with many leaders around the world.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump both held hands with Modi and attended events organised by supporters while he was in their countries.
Luxon was asked by The Post whether he would be comfortable for BJP pamphlets to be handed out at the event.
“All I know is I'm going to be there celebrating what's an outstanding achievement for New Zealand to actually have Prime Minister Modi here, the leader of a major company, uh country, here in New Zealand.”
He also answered “no” when he was asked whether he was concerned about the rise of Hindutva.
Modi also has a penchant for receiving awards, at home and abroad.
The Guardian reported when Modi visited Seychelles last weekend, he was bestowed with a trophy for being the Guardian of the Blue Horizon ‒ however the certificate misspelled ‘Seychelles’ and ‘republic’, had been written by AI and had been created just three days before his arrival.
Before his visit to Israel last month, its parliament quickly created what it claimed to be one of the country’s highest honours, the medal of the Knesset ‒ Modi is the only recipient to date.
When The Post asked whether there were any plans to give Modi awards, Luxon responded: “You're so excited about this great Indian FTA and this awesome relationship we've got. Prime Minister Modi here ‒ it’s so good.
“I'm not sure whether we're going to be giving him awards or what will be happening, but I know I'm going to have a great meeting with him at the bilateral level.”
The Hindu Council of New Zealand did not respond to a request for comment.