Mumbai girl roots for motherland in NZ

AUCKLAND: History was created in New Zealand in 1995 when Sukhi Turner nee Gill knocked out the Anglo-Saxon old guard to win mayoralty of the beautiful, rolling city of Dunedin. She was the first woman and youngest — and coloured — mayor of the city.
And she was the first Indian to rise that high in politics in the southern hemisphere. "I am still the only Indian in politics in Australia and New Zealand," she beams.
This "Green" wife of the dashing Kiwi batsman Glenn Turner has gone on to do a hat-trick.And unruffled feathers in the conservative city.
Variously called confrontational and rabble-rouser, Sukhi has ushered in what she calls an "inclusive and transparent style" of functioning.
"As a Green politician and a socialite, my priorities are protection of the environment and social justice. When I opposed water-polluting units, the old guard called me anti-business. A smear campaign was mounted against me when I sought re-election in 1998. The world has treated mother nature terribly." She won. And won yet again in 2001.
Every month when Sukhi administers the citizenship oath to 50-odd new immigrants, her message is: "Think globally, act locally and respond personally. This world should not stand bullies." A history graduate from Bombay University, she says human rights violations and nuclear weapons are the biggest threat today.
Sukhi wears her anti-nuke credentials on her sleeve. When the mayor feared that India and Pakistan might pull the nuclear trigger, she picked up the phone and called cricketers in the sub-continent — Bishan Singh Bedi and Imran Khan — to take the lead to defuse tensions.
"There is a great desire for reconciliation among ordinary people in the two countries, but politicians have failed them. You — Imran and Bishan — get together to rally the people," she pleaded.
Sukhi refused to be party to a decision which coupled Dunedin with Shanghai as a sister city. "I refused to go China because of its nuke programme and human rights record."
And she took up cudgels on behalf of the Dalai Lama when some Left leaders in New Zealand, under diplomatic pressure from China, tried to deny entry to the Tibetan spiritual leader a few years ago. "I am working with the central government to promote trade ties with India. I am an Indian to the core and will root for it."
In 1973, when Sukhi first landed in NZ with her husband, few had expected the demure wife to turn into a fiery leader. She has come a long way. "And I have a long way to go," she winks. A shot at Parliament seat? "May be," she says laconically.