New Delhi: As US President George Bush comes calling, the UPA Government is going on an overdrive to make him feel welcome. However, it's not just political bonhomie in store for the US president.
There have been widespread protests across the country against the much-hyped Bush visit.
From Bhopal, where the 1984 gas leak victims have taken to streets and are shouting slogans, to Hyderabad where anti-Bush campaigners have found a unique way of expressing themselves, the protests have been widespread..
In New Delhi, thousands took out a massive protest rally, waved black and white flags and chanted slogans like "Death to Bush!", "Bush, Bush, go home" and "Death to America, death to Bush".
According to the Delhi Police, nearly one lakh people, mostly Muslims gathered in Delhi's Ramlila ground for the protest march.
"Whether Hindu or Muslim, the people of India have gathered here to show our anger. We have only one message - killer Bush go home," expelled Samajwadi Party MP, Raj Babbar, said.
Bush arrives in India on Wednesday for a three-day visit focused on strengthening the emerging strategic partnership between India and the United States.
Islamic clerics and the Left parties have planned more such rallies during the three-day visit.
The Left parties are also planning to protest in front of Parliament on Thursday.
On Tuesday, nearly 1,000 people demonstrated in Mumbai, waving placards reading "Devil Bush Go Back," with caricatures of Bush as a cross between Superman and Satan.
Some mosques in Hyderabad have already unfurled banners protesting his arrival. Bush would visit the city for four hours on Friday.
Members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) burned effigies of Bush in the city.
"Up to 50,000 people will take part in the march, and we have the police permission to express our feelings," said Pushpender Grewal, secretary of the Communist Party of India.
Delhi turns fortress
Unprecedented security measures are in place in the national capital, particularly in Chanakyapuri and Lutyen's Bungalow Zone areas where Bush is expected to visit.
Additional police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in and around the places Bush and his entourage would be visiting during their stay in the capital, sources said.
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Hotel Maurya Sheraton, which would be home to the visiting President, and the adjoining Taj Palace have been taken over by US and Indian security officials.
US Secret Service agents, camping in Delhi for the last two months, have virtually sealed off the floor in Maurya Sheraton Hotel, where Bush would be staying, and have installed hi-tech gadgets to ward off any threat.
Elaborate security checks are being carried out at both the hotels, which have been declared out of bounds for general public.
Surprise checks and raids were being carried out at several sensitive parts of the national capital and activities of travellers to the city were being monitored closely.
Police were also keeping a watch on budget hotels in busy areas like Paharganj and Karol Bagh to look out for any suspects.
CRPF, Rapid Action force and Delhi Police personnel will be deployed along the Ramlila Grounds-Parliament Street road, the route of a rally against Bush's visit organised by the Left Parties.
Access to the Purana Qila monument, where Bush would address a select gathering of government leaders, businessmen, and politicians on March three, was being controlled.
The Central Zoo, adjoining the ancient monument, has been ordered closed for two days.
The US security officials, along with their Indian counterparts, carried out elaborate checks on the motorcade route, identified rooftop sightlines for snipers, analysed potential threats.
Drills were held at the Palam Technical Area, where Bush and his entourage, would arrive this evening. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to receive him.
Indian Air Force aircraft would carry out an aerial recce before the Boeing 747-200B Air Force One aircraft carrying the US President, the First Lady and senior administration
officials.
(With inpputs from Agencies)
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