Modi Visit Preparations Underway!

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Surrey’s Lakshmi Narayan Hindu temple is gearing up for the historic first ever Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Surrey with a full clean up and huge logistics to make sure that PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Surrey goes without a hitch. Modi is expected to be greeted by about 4600 people at the Surrey Hindu temple which is next to a Sikh temple and a Indo-Canadian Christian Church. Well before you get an opportunity to be part of the select crowd to greet Modi in an outdoor compound in the temple’s parking lot on April 16 at approximately 5 pm, every one of the 4600 people will need to register online and be cleared by the RCMP, which is the exclusive security detail for Modi’s first State Visit to Canada. The Conservative government of PM Stephen Harper is expected juice Modi’s visit for votes and funds from the Indo-Canadian community by having Harper be seen with Modi and by controlling the guest list at the State Dinners in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Conservatives have courted the Hindu community in big numbers by having their senior Ministers like Jason Kenney make appearances at Hindu temples in Ontario, BC and Alberta and the visit is seen by them as a chance to bolster their election chances by rubbing shoulders with Modi and Indo-Canadian power elite.  Surrey temple officials Vinay Sharma and Satish Kumar told the media that they have to spend big money to host Modi but the historic and community nature of the visit makes it well worth all the hassle and cost! See more stories on page 8.

****by R. Paul Dhillon