Chandigarh: In what has been termed as a humiliating incident, the son of Nek Chand, who created Chandigarh’s iconic ‘Rock Garden’ has alleged that he was asked to leave before Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived for a tour with President Francois Hollande on Sunday.
Recalling the incident, Anuj Saini, said that he felt “humiliated” after he was asked to leave the garden even though he had an entry card given by the Chandigarh administration.
“I was standing inside the Rock Garden where the Prime Minister was to receive the French President. I had proper authorisation. 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,” he said.
He also alleged that in order to ensure that he left the venue, a police official was deputed ‘to escort him out’. “It was like I was being thrown out of my own house”, he alleged.
Saini said he left the venue feeling insulted. “Why should I have stayed there?”
He said senior city official Vijay Dev and Home Secretary Anurag Aggarwal asked him about the incident.
“They asked me who told me to go out. When I explained the whole situation to them, they said it was wrong,” he said.
Earlier this morning, Congress leader Manish Tewari also tweeted on the alleged controversy expressing his curiosity over the entire episode.
“While #Modi-Hollande tried to Rock in Chandigarh’s Rock Garden-creator Nek Chand’s son treated like dirt& evicted from the Garden. Why Mr PM?”, he tweeted.
The Rock Garden, a popular tourist site, was created in 1976 by Nek Chand Saini who died in June last year. The garden features exquisite sculptures made from rubble from when Chandigarh was built.
President Hollande, who is the chief guest for India’s Republic Day celebration this year, began his three-day visit with a tour of Chandigarh, designed by French architect Le Corbusier.
