Protests In India Over Bush Visit
BBC News 
March 1, 2006
Tens of thousands of people have protested in India ahead of the arrival of US President George W Bush. Huge protest rallies were held in Delhi and Calcutta. Most of the crowd in the capital were Muslims. Speaker after speaker said Mr Bush was not welcome.
Mr Bush arrives in Delhi on Wednesday after a brief stop-over in Afghanistan.
The three-day trip is his first to India and comes six years after one by ex-president Bill Clinton. India and the US hope to sign a key nuclear deal.
'Bush go home'
About 50,000 protesters gathered in the heart of Delhi in the first of many planned demonstrations against the US president.
Most of them were Muslim. They held up black flags and placards reading: "Bush, go home."
"We are against Bush because he is the enemy of Islam," one protester, Shamsuddin Malik, told the BBC.
"He is a war criminal. America has invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Their policy towards humanity is deplorable," said Mohammad Anwar Hussain of the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, a hardline Islamic group.
The BBC's Sanjeev Srivastava in Delhi says although many are protesting the against Bush visit, there are equally many Indians who will welcome him.
Other protests took place in the eastern city of Calcutta and Bangalore and Hyderabad in the south.
In Calcutta, tens of thousands of supporters of left-wing parties marched through the city centre.
Many told President Bush to go home and stop killings in Iraq. Some called on India not to become what they called a US lackey.
Nuclear deal
Indian and US officials have been trying to finalise a landmark deal which will give India much-needed access to US civilian nuclear technology.
It was agreed to in principle during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington last year.
But it has been held up by differences over plans to separate India's civilian and military nuclear programmes and open its civilian nuclear facilities to international inspectors.
"We need to make sure there are no ambiguities which may create difficulties for us in the future," Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told journalists on Tuesday.
During his trip, President Bush will visit the southern city of Hyderabad, one of India's high-technology hubs.
Mr Bush will head to Pakistan after India.
In a BBC interview broadcast on Wednesday, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said he hoped the US leader would be able to play a role in resolving the long-running Kashmir dispute with India.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4761956.stm
Published: 2006/03/01 11:40:49 GMT
© BBC MMVI
March 1, 2006
Tens of thousands of people have protested in India ahead of the arrival of US President George W Bush. Huge protest rallies were held in Delhi and Calcutta. Most of the crowd in the capital were Muslims. Speaker after speaker said Mr Bush was not welcome.
Mr Bush arrives in Delhi on Wednesday after a brief stop-over in Afghanistan.
The three-day trip is his first to India and comes six years after one by ex-president Bill Clinton. India and the US hope to sign a key nuclear deal.
'Bush go home'
About 50,000 protesters gathered in the heart of Delhi in the first of many planned demonstrations against the US president.
Most of them were Muslim. They held up black flags and placards reading: "Bush, go home."
"We are against Bush because he is the enemy of Islam," one protester, Shamsuddin Malik, told the BBC.
"He is a war criminal. America has invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Their policy towards humanity is deplorable," said Mohammad Anwar Hussain of the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, a hardline Islamic group.
The BBC's Sanjeev Srivastava in Delhi says although many are protesting the against Bush visit, there are equally many Indians who will welcome him.
Other protests took place in the eastern city of Calcutta and Bangalore and Hyderabad in the south.
In Calcutta, tens of thousands of supporters of left-wing parties marched through the city centre.
Many told President Bush to go home and stop killings in Iraq. Some called on India not to become what they called a US lackey.
Nuclear deal
Indian and US officials have been trying to finalise a landmark deal which will give India much-needed access to US civilian nuclear technology.
It was agreed to in principle during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington last year.
But it has been held up by differences over plans to separate India's civilian and military nuclear programmes and open its civilian nuclear facilities to international inspectors.
"We need to make sure there are no ambiguities which may create difficulties for us in the future," Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told journalists on Tuesday.
During his trip, President Bush will visit the southern city of Hyderabad, one of India's high-technology hubs.
Mr Bush will head to Pakistan after India.
In a BBC interview broadcast on Wednesday, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said he hoped the US leader would be able to play a role in resolving the long-running Kashmir dispute with India.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4761956.stm
Published: 2006/03/01 11:40:49 GMT
© BBC MMVI
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