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Indian city locks up its beggars ahead of Ivanka Trump visit
Hyderabad takes hundreds off the streets for causing ‘annoyance and awkwardness’
Indian beggars in a dorrmitory in Hyderabad this week after the order banning begging © AFP
November 10, 2017 12:00 am by Kiran Stacey in New Delhi
As east Asian leaders roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump, the southern Indian city of Hyderabad is preparing for a visit by the US president’s daughter by rounding up beggars and putting them in jail.
Hyderabad’s police have begun detaining homeless families after their commissioner this week issued an order banning begging for two months. The decree was issued three weeks before Ivanka Trump’s arrival to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit from November 28 to 30.
Work has already begun on the clear-up. On Wednesday almost 400 beggars were taken from the suburb of Goshamahal and placed in a “rehabilitation centre” in a nearby jail, a police told local media.
“Some beggars argued that we were taking their freedom to live anywhere they want,” one officer told the Indian Express. “But we told them it was for their own good because they are going to the rehab centre where they will be taken care of.”
The round-up was ordered by M Mahender Reddy, Hyderabad’s police commissioner, who complained of the “indecent manner” of the begging. The use of children and disabled people to beg at traffic junctions was “causing annoyance and awkwardness” and was “dangerous to the safety of the vehicular traffic and public in general”.
Hyderabad police did not respond to a request to comment.
Ms Trump’s visit is being taken seriously by Indian officials keen to capitalise on what they saw as a successful visit by Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, to the US this year. Mr Modi will inaugurate the summit, which is being held in Asia for the first time.
Begging is common throughout Indian cities, many of which have grown rapidly in recent years as workers travel from the countryside looking for jobs. A report by the Indian National Human Rights Commission last year found that an estimated 300,000 children were being forced to beg by cartels.
It is rare, however, for local governments to launch mass crackdowns in an attempt to clear the streets of the families who live there. Prince Charles is visiting Delhi but no equivalent action has been taken there.
The last time such an order was issued in Hyderabad was before the visit of Bill Clinton in 2000, when he was US president. To clear the streets this time, officials told Indian media, would mean relocating 6,000 people.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited . All rights reserved. Please don't copy articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Ahead of IvankaTrump’s visit, Hyderabad police gets rid of beggars from city streets
Hundreds of foreign delegates are expected to attend the summit to be held at Hitec City from November 28 to 30, and the Telangana Government which wants Hyderabad to be seen as a global capital, is keen on ensuring that no beggars are seen around.
Policemen engaged in shifting beggars. Express Photo
RELATED NEWS
Hundreds of foreign delegates are expected to attend the summit to be held at Hitec City from November 28 to 30, and the Telangana Government which wants Hyderabad to be seen as a global capital, is keen on ensuring that no beggars are seen around.
On Wednesday, nearly 400 beggars were taken away from Goshamahal area and lodged at the rehabilitation centre at Chanchalguda Jail. “As per instructions of Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy to make the city beggar-free, we have shifted those in our area to rehabilitation centre,” said Goshamahal ACP Narender Reddy.
“Some beggars argued that we were taking their freedom to live anywhere they want but we told them it was for their own good because they are going to the rehab centre where they will be taken care of,” an official said. About 6,000 beggars in the city would be shifted to rehab centres and shelters for homeless.
Hyderabad Police had conducted a similar operation when Bill Clinton visited in 2000. Officials said US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka may do some sightseeing. She will also interact with entrepreneurs. The five-day World Telugu Conference is also going to be held from December 15 which would be attended by hundreds of NRIs.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy banned begging on city streets through a prohibitory order issued Tuesday. The prohibitory order would be in force till January 7, 2018.
“It has come to my notice through the public that many beggars are begging alms in an indecent manner. They are also employing children and handicapped persons to solicit or receive alms at the main junctions of the road. Such acts are causing annoyance and awkwardness by exposing in an indecent manner to divert the attention of the vehicular traffic as well as pedestrians and public in general to induce them to give alms. These acts are dangerous to the safety of the vehicular traffic and public in general,” the notification read, adding that begging is prohibited under Section 144 of criminal procedure code 1973 and the order would remain in force for two months.
Hyderabad takes hundreds off the streets for causing ‘annoyance and awkwardness’
Indian beggars in a dorrmitory in Hyderabad this week after the order banning begging © AFP
November 10, 2017 12:00 am by Kiran Stacey in New Delhi
As east Asian leaders roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump, the southern Indian city of Hyderabad is preparing for a visit by the US president’s daughter by rounding up beggars and putting them in jail.
Hyderabad’s police have begun detaining homeless families after their commissioner this week issued an order banning begging for two months. The decree was issued three weeks before Ivanka Trump’s arrival to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit from November 28 to 30.
Work has already begun on the clear-up. On Wednesday almost 400 beggars were taken from the suburb of Goshamahal and placed in a “rehabilitation centre” in a nearby jail, a police told local media.
“Some beggars argued that we were taking their freedom to live anywhere they want,” one officer told the Indian Express. “But we told them it was for their own good because they are going to the rehab centre where they will be taken care of.”
The round-up was ordered by M Mahender Reddy, Hyderabad’s police commissioner, who complained of the “indecent manner” of the begging. The use of children and disabled people to beg at traffic junctions was “causing annoyance and awkwardness” and was “dangerous to the safety of the vehicular traffic and public in general”.
Hyderabad police did not respond to a request to comment.
Ms Trump’s visit is being taken seriously by Indian officials keen to capitalise on what they saw as a successful visit by Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, to the US this year. Mr Modi will inaugurate the summit, which is being held in Asia for the first time.
Begging is common throughout Indian cities, many of which have grown rapidly in recent years as workers travel from the countryside looking for jobs. A report by the Indian National Human Rights Commission last year found that an estimated 300,000 children were being forced to beg by cartels.
It is rare, however, for local governments to launch mass crackdowns in an attempt to clear the streets of the families who live there. Prince Charles is visiting Delhi but no equivalent action has been taken there.
The last time such an order was issued in Hyderabad was before the visit of Bill Clinton in 2000, when he was US president. To clear the streets this time, officials told Indian media, would mean relocating 6,000 people.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited . All rights reserved. Please don't copy articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Ahead of IvankaTrump’s visit, Hyderabad police gets rid of beggars from city streets
Hundreds of foreign delegates are expected to attend the summit to be held at Hitec City from November 28 to 30, and the Telangana Government which wants Hyderabad to be seen as a global capital, is keen on ensuring that no beggars are seen around.
- Written By Sreenivas Janyala | New Delhi |
- Published On: November 9, 2017 3:24 Am
RELATED NEWS
Hundreds of foreign delegates are expected to attend the summit to be held at Hitec City from November 28 to 30, and the Telangana Government which wants Hyderabad to be seen as a global capital, is keen on ensuring that no beggars are seen around.
On Wednesday, nearly 400 beggars were taken away from Goshamahal area and lodged at the rehabilitation centre at Chanchalguda Jail. “As per instructions of Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy to make the city beggar-free, we have shifted those in our area to rehabilitation centre,” said Goshamahal ACP Narender Reddy.
“Some beggars argued that we were taking their freedom to live anywhere they want but we told them it was for their own good because they are going to the rehab centre where they will be taken care of,” an official said. About 6,000 beggars in the city would be shifted to rehab centres and shelters for homeless.
Hyderabad Police had conducted a similar operation when Bill Clinton visited in 2000. Officials said US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka may do some sightseeing. She will also interact with entrepreneurs. The five-day World Telugu Conference is also going to be held from December 15 which would be attended by hundreds of NRIs.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner M Mahender Reddy banned begging on city streets through a prohibitory order issued Tuesday. The prohibitory order would be in force till January 7, 2018.
“It has come to my notice through the public that many beggars are begging alms in an indecent manner. They are also employing children and handicapped persons to solicit or receive alms at the main junctions of the road. Such acts are causing annoyance and awkwardness by exposing in an indecent manner to divert the attention of the vehicular traffic as well as pedestrians and public in general to induce them to give alms. These acts are dangerous to the safety of the vehicular traffic and public in general,” the notification read, adding that begging is prohibited under Section 144 of criminal procedure code 1973 and the order would remain in force for two months.
