Indian slums “covered in white cloth” during the visit of Boris Johnson
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Large white sheets appear to have been used to cover the slum dwellings along the route followed by Boris Johnson during his visit to Gujarat, India on Thursday.
Some videos and pictures posted on social media by local journalists appear to show white sheets covering the side of the road near Mahatma Gandhi’s former home in Ahmedabad, which was visited by the UK Prime Minister on the first day of his tour of India. .
Later that day other images showed the sheets coming down from their large metal frames, revealing once again the view of the slum backyard.
There is no official confirmation that the Gujarat government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made these arrangements for Mr Johnson’s visit, and state and city officials told the Independent. that they knew no plan obscures the view of the slums.
A video posted on the internet by filmmaker Vinod Kapri and reportedly recorded Thursday in Ahmedabad shows a white cloth blocking the roadside view as normal traffic continues in the busy city.
Addressing Mr Monti, who hails from Gujarat and has increasingly offered to the state as a stopover for foreign officials to visit in recent years, Capri wrote: “You have been Gujarat’s chief minister for 12 years. You have been the Prime Minister of the country @narendramodi for 8 years. However, what are you ashamed to show to @BorisJohnson? ”
A later video, released Thursday night by a journalist named Umashankar Singh of the NDTV news channel, showed the white sheets coming down from their scaffolding, revealing shacks and parked scooters in the back.
“The curtains are gone as Johnson leaves,” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday after the prime minister left for Delhi for talks with Monti on Friday.
Johnson had landed in the western Indian state of Gujarat at 10.30am. local time on Thursday and was received by Prime Minister Bupendra Patel. His itinerary in Ahmedabad included a visit to the famous Sabarmati Ashram, the old home of Mahatma Gandhi, where he posed sitting with Gaddy’s famous Charkha (spinning wheel).
In his opening remarks to Mr Monti during his reception ceremony in Delhi on Friday morning, Mr Johnson commented on how much he had enjoyed the ‘fantastic welcome’ in Gujarat and said he would not necessarily take it τού everywhere in the world. “.
Mr Johnson’s visit to India came amid calls for him to return to his homeland after being fined by police for violating his own Covid lockdown rules.
This is not the first time that measures have been taken to block the view of slums during a foreign official’s visit to Ahmedabad. When then-US President Donald Trump visited Gujarat in early 2020 for a stadium event with Monti called the “Namaste Trump” rally, the Ahmedabad municipal company built a 4-meter-high wall to hide a section of slums along the way. of the American leader. the city.
Johnson’s own visit to India was already embroiled in controversy after he visited a JCB factory, a day after the same company’s equipment was used to demolish mostly poor Muslim homes in the Jahangirpur area of North Delhi. incidents of religious violence over the weekend.
at evening when they removing clothes
