The son of Nek Chand, the creator of Chandigarh’s iconic tourist attraction, on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister’s security staff had abruptly asked him to leave the venue just before he arrived there to welcome the French President Francois Hollande.
Anuj Saini said that he felt humiliated in his ‘own home’ as the garden was created by his father Nek Chand, who died of cardiac arrest in June 2015.
DNA quoted him as saying, “I was standing inside the Rock Garden where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to receive the French President. I had proper authorisation in this regard. But just 10 minutes before Modi arrived, PM’s security official AIG Balwan Singh told me I was not allowed to stand there saying there was no order from the PMO.
“To ensure that I leave the venue, a police official was also deputed (to escort me out). It was like I was being thrown out of my own house.”
Nek Chand, before his death, had requested the government to appoint his son as a permanent member of the Rock Garden society.
The ‘insulting treatment’ meted out to Saini caused huge outrage on social media platforms. Most Twitter users directed their anger towards Modi;
Now see this,What d hell Modi have done with son of Nek Chand the creator of Rock Garden,SHAME#ModiKillsDemocracy https://t.co/J8q01lVINf
— C P Singh (@CPSinghPunjab) January 24, 2016
It's lapse on part of UT administration that name of son of Nek Chand was not included in list of guests. #ChdTweetUp
— Harinder Pal Singh Ishar (@attorney_ishar) January 24, 2016
https://twitter.com/akdwaaz/status/691213320653656064
Rock Garden creator’s son Anuj saini askd 2 leave b4 PM arrival: lol after this chap becomin PM even his guards r arrogant.@DrunkVinodMehta
— Varun Venugopalan (@varunvishnu9711) January 24, 2016