NEW DELHI, Feb 28: When US President George W. Bush addresses India from Delhi’s rundown 16th century Purana Qila, a fortress that celebrates the only Afghan chieftain to vanquish a Mughal emperor, he may well be sending a message to Kabul during his South Asia tour starting on Wednesday.
There are soft whispers in diplomatic circles that President Bush would catch a flight to Kabul even if for a few hours during his trip to Islamabad, or it would be taken amiss by his troops. Mr Bush finishes his four days in India on Saturday, but for security reasons the Kabul itinerary has not been spelt out.
The Purana Qila, also called the Old Fort, claims its roots in Hindu mythology but was last refurbished by Shershah Suri after he deposed India’s second Mughal Emperor Humanyun around 1530 AD.
However, many people, including rebel writer Arundhati Roy, believe that President Bush has chosen Purana Qila for far more mundane reasons.
Ms Roy wrote in The Hindu on Tuesday that the Purana Qila was foisted by default on President Bush after the first two options did not work out for him.
“For his 2nd of March pit stop in New Delhi, the Indian Government tried very hard to have him address our Parliament. A not inconsequential number of MPs threatened to heckle him, so Plan One was hastily shelved,” Ms Roy wrote.
Plan Two according to her was that Presidnet Bush address the masses from the ramparts of the magnificent Mughal-built Red Fort where the Indian Prime Minister traditionally delivers his Independence Day address.
“But the Red Fort, surrounded as it is by the predominantly Muslim population of Old Delhi, was considered a security nightmare. So now we’re into Plan Three: President George Bush speaks from Purana Qila, the Old Fort.”
Purana Qila also houses the Delhi Zoo. “George Bush’s audience will be a few hundred caged animals and an approved list of caged human beings who in India go under the category of ‘eminent persons’”, wrote Ms Roy.
Thousands of protesters including Muslim groups and leftist parties along with a few hundred intellectuals, artists, students and teachers have planned a march from Delhi’s historic Ram Lila Grounds on Thursday to the venue where President Bush will hold official talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Police say the marchers would be stopped a few safe miles from the venue.
Many Indians are opposed to a visit President Bush plans to make to Rajghat where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated in 1948. President Gen Pervez Musharraf visited the shrine in July 2001.
“When George Bush places flowers on that famous slab of highly polished stone, millions of Indians will wince. It will be as though he has poured a pint of blood on the memory of Gandhi,” Ms Roy said.
“It’s not in our power to stop Bush’s visit. It is in our power to protest it, and we will,” she said. Heavy traffic restrictions have been placed for the visit for which a record number of security personnel have been mobilised.
