India Hides City Slums During Trump Visit By Building A Wall

A 4-foot wall was built to hide the slums of the Indian city of Ahmedabad ahead of President Donald Trump‘s visit to the country.

Ahmedabad was on the route of Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s 13.6-mile motorcade procession. The two finished at the world’s largest cricket arena, the Motera stadium for a rally-like reception on Monday.

The stadium seats an approximate 100,000 and Modi wrote on Twitter that an additional 100,000 people had registered to watch the 13.6-mile procession billed as “the Biggest Roadshow Ever.”

Yet the news that several thousands of locals were hidden from view by a wall drew criticism from the Indian press.

“The wall in question is coming up in front of the Dev Saran or Saraniyavaas slum area, which has been in existence for several decades and houses over 500 tenements,” The Wire reported. “The place is home to over 2,500 people and the manner in which the wall is being constructed to mask it has posed questions around the mindset which has driven the exercise.”

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Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra said on Wednesday the decision to build the wall was made well before Trump’s visit.

“The decision to build a 4-feet wall was taken 2 months ago to prevent encroachments on footpath & road,” Nehra wrote on Twitter.

Article by Katherine Huggins