Ahmedabad, Feb 24: US President Donald Trump arrived in Ahmedabad on Monday for the first leg of his India trip.
The Air Force One plane carrying Trump and his wife Melania landed at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport here at 11.37 am, officials said.
It was scheduled to land at 11.40 am.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reached Ahmedabad over an hour before Trump did, was present at the airport to welcome the US president at the airport.
In Ahmedabad, Trump will visit Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram, take part in a roadshow with Modi and jointly address over one lakh people at a cricket stadium, before heading for Agra to see the iconic Taj Mahal with Melania.
Trump, who is also accompanied by daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and top brass of his administration, will get a taste of India's cultural melange during his high- optics Gujarat itinerary, after the bonhomie between the two leaders at the 'Howdy, Modi!' event in Houston last year.
The US president and Modi will participate in a roadshow from the airport to Sabarmti Ashram and from there to the newly-built Motera cricket stadium, where over a lakh people are expected to be present for the 'Namaste Trump' event.
Dance groups and singers from different parts of the country will be performing on stages that are dotting the 22- km route of the 'India roadshow' in the city.
Huge billboards of the two leaders and replicas of historic places in Gujarat have also been placed along the roads where people will greet the two leaders.
Over 10,000 police personnel, besides officials of the United States Secret Service, and personnel of the National Security Guards (NSG) and the Special Protection Group (SPG) have been deployed for the high profile visit.
The seventh US president to visit India, Trump on Sunday retweeted a video in which his face was superimposed on the hit Indian movie-character Bahubali, showing him as a great saviour.
Modi will accompany Trump to the Sabarmati Ashram, which was home to Mahatma Gandhi from 1917-1930 during India's freedom struggle.
Several world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have visited Sabarmati Ashram in recent years.
Ashram secretary Amrut Modi said Trump will spend 15 minutes at the place.
"Trump will visit the 'Hriday Kunj'. If he wishes, he will spin a charkha (spinning wheel). We will also gift him a coffee-table book, and a book containing 150 quotations of Gandhi," the Ashram official said.
Hriday Kunj is a room on the Ashram premises where Mahatma Gandhi and his wife Kasturba Gandhi had lived for 12 years between 1918 and 1930.
The official said the US President would be briefed about Gandhiji and the importance of charkha as a symbol of self-reliance.
There will be a cultural extravaganza at the Motera stadium during the 'Namaste Trump' event, where Trump and Modi will address the gathering.
Bollywood singer Kailash Kher and some Gujarati folk singers will perform at the stadium, officials of the Gujarat Cricket Association said.
Students of various government and private schools have also been roped in to perform at cultural events and they have been practicing for days, an official said.
Billboards with slogans hailing Indo-US relations and having pictures of Trump and Modi walking together, shaking hands, and waving at the crowd during the 'Howdy Modi' event are dotting the city.
Over 200 Dalit families near Vedaranyam claim to have been banned from participating in the temple festival, while 35 Dalit families in Karur complai that they were barred from even entering the local Mahasakhthi Amman temple. They claim that the temple was built using their contributions.
Comments
Masha Allah
Majority of Indian population are dalit, If 70% of dalits convert to Islam in India.Islam will become the number one in India.
Any individuals while choosing religion, he will go for the best religion.
Finally he will find Islam, because Islam is the best and easy to follow religion.
Accepting any religion means, agreeing its doctrine and following its teaching.
It has come to from the heart. Nobody can force to follow any religion nor can force to change it.
It comes from his inner conscience, what he or she feels comfortable.
We may force somebody to remain in the same religion or we can force also to change into any religion, which is like asking someone to agree and believe 2+2=3. Even if a person agrees to come under pressure, it means, he is not following its teaching by will and wish. So he can definitely violate and disobey its teaching.
Now coming into this case, first of all they are not comfortable what their fellow followers did them to ban the entry into temple. And no equality in their society. This is the main reason
Now choosing new religion is purely understanding and convincing its doctrine and real teaching.
Our constitution also empowers everyone to follow freely any religion. Not only this, it also empowers to propagate to others.
It is a great constitution.
Guide them properly OR Leave them alone.
Accepting any religion means, agreeing its doctrine and following its teaching.
It has come to from the heart. Nobody can force to follow any religion nor can force to change it.
It comes from his inner conscience, what he or she feels comfortable.
We may force somebody to remain in the same religion or we can force also to change into any religion, which is like asking someone to agree and believe 2+2=3. Even if a person agrees to come under pressure, it means, he is not following its teaching by will and wish. So he can definitely violate and disobey its teaching.
Now coming into this case, first of all they are not comfortable what their fellow followers did them to ban the entry into temple. And no equality in their society. This is the main reason
Now choosing new religion is purely understanding and convincing its doctrine and real teaching.
Our constitution also empowers everyone to follow freely any religion. Not only this, it also empowers to propagate to others.
It is a great constitution.
Guide them properly OR Leave them alone.
Welcome brothers and sisters ....Proud to be MUSLIMS
Islam invites people who learn about it and understand it. not to increase numbers....no need to convert just because they are not allowed in temples, they can follow their faith even from their hearts.
@ venki
Islam does not allow forced conversion.....we invite to the path of Islam. If someone wills then only..moreover we are not minorities in the world like you.....
@yogesh..
i think the people already know better to join islam than supporting RSS Terrorrists right....
Hari, nothing is impossible in this world, for that you need good heart and mind which I cannot see it in those so called hindutva group....they are all still remaining in their old and orthodox thinking. As a matter of fact there is no such a thing called upper and lower cast in the society but it has been created by bloody brahmins for their benefits...
Venke, Sangeeth .....if you feel that one can pray at home, then why you people are fighting for Ayodhya temple.... Beef exporting hypocrites....
If they convert to Islam....there they get all types of respect, which they have not seen and imagined in their entire past life...great religion......nice choice....well come guys....
Sangeeth Manglore
Yeah... they can pray anywhere as they are considered born out of feet.. Only those born out of Gods head, needed rich temples to pray and enjoy public wealth. Opportunistic
Hindutva group will do nothing if Dalits convert to Jainism, Buddhism but, as soon as Dalits want to convert to Islam or Christianity, Saffronist will come into action with some stupid solution
The best solution is as mention by Mr Rikaz, that all the Dalits must get BRAHMIN STATUS then all the discrimination may end.
Good that hindutava group is taking initiative......they should upgrade their status from lower caste (dalit) to upper caste (Brahmin) This is only the amicable solution for this problem, otherwise this problem (ill treating dalit) will recur every now and then.
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