Large protests in India over Bush visit

NEW DELHI, March 1.—At least 100,000 Indians, shouting "Death to Bush" and singing Imagine, the anti-war song of the deceased Beatle John Lennon, today repudiated the visit to this capital of the president of the United States.

The U.S. president is about to arrive in New Delhi from Afghanistan on a surprise three-day visit during which he will be accompanied by major protests, as Indian organizers informed the press.

The giant demonstration with large black and white banners toured the central streets of New Delhi, headed by prominent artistic, literary, political, university and religious figures.

The marchers also carried placards with slogans reading "Bush, braggart, go home" and "Death to the United States, death to Bush."

Speakers on a raised stage included politician and actor Raj Babear, famous writer Arundhati Roy, who wrote the successful God of Small Things, and students from the eminent Jawaharlal Nehru University. Moreover, the university students began a vigil on the campus.

In their speeches, Babear and Roy stated that both Hindus and Muslims, who make up the people of India, had come together to express their anger and bring one sole message: "Go home, Bush murderer."

The police dispatched a large force to the area, some of them armed, to avoid a breach of the peace, according to the security forces, who counted the demonstrators as numbering more than 100,000.

Likewise in Hyderabad, an Islamic majority city to be visited by Bush, Muslim groups began collecting signatures protesting at the visit of the U.S. president and preparing large demonstrations.

The organizers of the peaceful protests state that the U.S. president is the highest representative of imperialism and the leader of the enemies of the sovereignty of nations and people in today’s world.

A multi-system of U.S. and Indian security is to protect Bush during his three-day visit during which he will have talks with the highest national authorities and tour venerated locations.