The BJP-led Gujarat government is constructing a new wall on an urgent basis when US President Donald Trump visits the city of Ahmedabad during his trip to India.
World’s Biggest Cricket Stadium ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Stadium’ To Be Inaugurated By Trump
A senior government said the wall was being built for security reasons, not to conceal the slum district. But the contractor building it told Reuters the government “did not want the slum to be seen” when Trump passes by on the ride in from Ahmedabad’s airport.
“I’ve been ordered to build a wall as soon as possible, over 150 masons are working round-the-clock to finish the project,” the contractor said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The government official conceded that the wall was part of a “beautification and cleanliness” drive.
Whatever the reason, the 400-meter-long and seven-feet-high wall will prevent the US leader from getting a glimpse of a slum district that houses an estimated 800 families.
Trump, who has made his pledge to build a wall along the United States’ border with Mexico a feature of his presidency, will visit India on Feb. 24-25 to reaffirm strategic ties that have been buffeted by trade disputes.
He is expected to attend an event dubbed “Kem Cho Trump” (“How are you, Trump”) at a stadium in Ahmedabad along the lines of the “Howdy Modi” event he hosted for Indian PM Narendra Modi in Houston last September.
But some slum dwellers whose homes will be cordoned off by the wall in Ahmedabad said the government was wasting tax-payer money to hide the poor. “Poverty and slums are the reality of our life, but Modi’s government wants to hide the poor,” said a labourer.
The World’s Biggest Cricket Stadium – the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad – renamed as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Stadium with a capacity of over 1.10 lakh people will be inaugurated by US President Donald Trump during his visit to India.
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit India along with his wife Melania Trump. Trump will be in India on 24-25 February. On this two-day tour, he will go to Delhi and Ahmedabad.
Trump had said jokingly at a press conference in the US he would not ‘feel good’ as the PM had told him there would be five to seven million people to welcome him from the airport to the new stadium.
