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Bill Clinton won't be
meeting 'real people'

Former US president Bill Clinton flew into Delhi from Washington on Tuesday night at 2345 hours (IST) by an United Airlines flight along with a number of prominent non-resident Indians.

On Wednesday, Clinton will board a chartered Indian Airlines aircraft bound for the Bhuj Air Base along with 30 NRIs, including Deepak Chopra, for a five-hour tour of the Kutch.

While in Kutch, Clinton will be driven around in an armoured car provided by the American embassy. Around 500 policemen will be deployed on the route he is expected to take. Clinton's convoy of 16 cars will leave Bhuj at 1145 hours and head towards Ratnal, 25 kms away. Clinton will spend about 10 minutes in this town, a stronghold of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Next on his itinerary is Anjaar, where 150 children died due to the earthquake.

Around 400 children were passing through a narrow lane to reach Khatri Chowk when the quake struck. The impact was such that buildings on both sides crumbled trapping the children in-between.

Clinton will walk through the narrow lane along with those children who survived and teachers of the schools. Later, he is expected to spend an hour with children and other victims.

Clinton will then return to Bhuj and drive through some of the devastated areas and visit Jubilee Hospital.

The structure was not completely destroyed like the town's civil hospital and is expected to give the visiting dignitary an idea of the intensity of the killer quake, said a state government official.

Later, he will address the press and public briefly before flying to Ahmedabad.

Though, the affable president is coming to share the grief of Kutchis, 'real people' might not be allowed to meet him.

According to Bhuj Superintendent of Police Vivek Shrivastava, "Clinton would meet only a couple of 'pre-selected' villagers in Anjaar and Ratnal. We have not shifted villagers from their homes (for the duration of the visit) but have thoroughly checked on all the homes on Clinton's route. No unknown person will be allowed to get anywhere near him because of the threat perception to his life.''

According to a senior police officer, "Villagers of Ratnal who wanted to narrate their pain to Clinton were denied permission to meet him."

"Clinton will be provided security befitting his status," Shrivastava told rediff.com.

According to him, five personnel of the US Secret service will accompany Clinton at all times and encircle him when he moves in a crowd. He pointed out that the security in Ahmedabad would be much more elaborate than in Kutch.

Anil Mukim, Collector of Kutch, told rediff.com, "Clinton will not be visiting Bhachau due to time constraints. To save time, he will be skipping lunch though we have made arrangements to offer him bajra roti and other Kutchi snacks. He will be gifted a book on Kutch's embroidery, some handicrafts and shawls from Bhujodi town."

Mukim assured the press on Tuesday that there would not be any demonstration during Clinton's brief visit of Kutch saying, "He is not a Member of Parliament or a minister. He is a foreign dignitary and should be treated with respect. That's all."

EARLIER REPORTS
Clinton to visit Bhuj, Ratnal, Anjaar and Bhachau
NRIs in US Looking Forward to Clinton's Visit
'Clinton eager to meet quake victims'

The Complete Coverage | List of earthquake sites

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