Satyanand was chair of the Commonwealth Foundation for two 2-year terms, ending in December 2016. He then chaired the Commonwealth Observation Group of the National Elections of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea in 2017. In 2018, the New Zealand Government appointed him to lead the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State care and in the care of Faith-based Institutions, which is scheduled to continue until 2023. In November 2019, at the conclusion of its build-up phase, he stepped down as chair. In August 2019 he was elected Chancellor of the University of Waikato for a 4-year term.
Early life and Family:
Anand Satyanand was born on 22 July 1944 and raised in Auckland to an ethnic Indo-New Zealander family of Indo-Fijian descent.
In 1903 the recruitment of Girmitiyas to Fiji began from South India. Satyanand's paternal grandparents, Mutyala Sriraman and Kanthamma, belongs to the dominant Kamma community, originally from Rajamandri (also spelt Rajahmundry) in Andhra Pradesh, sailed from Madras (Chennai) on vessel Sutlej II in 1911 on the Ganges. Mutyala Sriraman, aged twenty-seven, was recruited to work as a clerk and interpreter (of Telegu and Hindustani) in Fiji's colonial government. His son Mutyala Satyanand was born in 1913 at a government station, Lawaqa (near Sigatoka) in Nadroga district. The family later moved to Lautoka, where Mutyala Sriraman was a clerk to the Township Board, before relocating to Suva. Mutyala Sriraman was among the few educated Indians of his era in Fiji, was able to translate different Indian languages. into English, and was in demand to write letters and advocate for Indo-Fijians.
Sir Anand's father, Mutyala Satyanand was went to New Zealand in the 1920s for education and medical training, ending up working as a general medical practitioner in Auckland for more than 40 years. .
His maternal grandfather, Tilakdas belongs to the dominant Kurmi community of was only aged six when, some time before 1882, he and his father Umrao along with his uncle Chalakdas left Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh to embark on a journey of over one thousand kilometres to Calcutta. Little is known of this major journey and how they were recruited to be among the first Girmitiyas to Fiji.
The different origins of Satyanand's grandparents from North and South India were indicative of the unique Indian diaspora to Fiji, which stemmed from divergent regions, cultures, villages, castes, and religions in South Asia.
Satyanand has been married to Susan Sharpe, a Pākehā woman since 1970. She was born in Sydney, Australia in 1946 and moved to New Zealand with her family in 1954. Susan and Anand have three adult children and five grandchildren.
Besides his official and national language of English which is also his first language, Satyanand also speaks some Fijian, Māori, Telugu (his Indian-origin ethnic language) and Fiji Hindi (the lingua franca of his Indo-Fijian ethnic community).
Governor-General of New Zealand
In 2006, Satyanand was appointed Governor-General by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the New Zealand government under Prime Minister Helen Clark. He succeeded Dame Silvia Cartwright as governor-general on 23 August 2006. His appointment was welcomed by every parliamentary party leader. He was the first governor-general of Indian descent and the first Roman Catholic governor-general.
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Grand Prior of the Order of St John, received Satyanand as governor-general designate on 7 July 2006 and invested him as a Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.
In May 2007 changes were made to the Queen's Service Order. Under the previous Royal Warrant, the governor-general was ex-officio Principal Companion of the Order but was not a member of the Order. The Royal Warrant now provides for the appointment of the governor-general as a Companion of the Order in their own right.
Subsequent roles
Since returning to private life, Satyanand and his wife have remained in Wellington. He was Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation for two 2-year terms, ending in December 2016. He then led the Commonwealth team in observing the National Elections of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. He maintains active interests in several organisations, including as President of the NZ Institute of International Affairs, as a member of Transparency International's Anti-Corruption Council and as Patron of New Zealand Rugby League and of Commonwealth Youth New Zealand. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the University of Auckland Law School, visiting on a monthly basis. Susan and Anand are both active members of the Rotary Club of Wellington; both have been made Paul Harris Fellows, and Satyanand received the Rotary International Award of Honour in 2011.
Comments
Post a Comment