As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), organisers of what is expected to be a huge community reception for him in Dubai on Monday are at pains to point out that they are a “different breed” of NRIs from those in the United States and other parts of the world who have also hosted the Prime Minister.
Speaking to The Hindu , Satish Mayya, a member of the organising committee of the reception said, “the NRIs in the U.S. and other parts of the world are truly away from home, we on the other hand do go back very frequently, we send back more money than any Indian diaspora group, we have Dubai bureaus of various Indian newspapers and channels which make us involved with Indian politics, and our sheer numbers ensure that we are more involved in the domestic issues.”
Elaborate arrangementsHe points this out to explain the massive and very elaborate arrangements that have been put in place for the reception. “We had 10 days to prepare and everything has been done in that time. We closed registrations three days ago as more than 50,000 people had registered for the event, whereas the capacity of the Dubai cricket stadium (where the event is being held) can stretch to around 40,000, we have arranged outdoor screens for those who cannot enter the premises. Around 16,000 people are going to be present outside the stadium,” he said. Interestingly, many in India got an inkling of the Prime Minister’s visit to the West Asian country only after the website for the event “namoindubai” went online.
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav has also been at hand to smoothen out some of the arrangements. The organisers have arranged 200 buses to ferry attendees from various metro stations in Dubai to the event in order to regulate traffic. Desert air conditioning, which is used to cool open areas and tents is being arranged in advance to cool down the stadium, where, as one Indian official put it, “chairs have been placed everywhere except the cricket pitch.” The event is not a ticketed one, but financed through contributions from the community. “We are hosting the Prime Minister, and everyone has been most enthusiastic,” said Mr. Mayya.
While the Prime Minister is expected to make his speech in Hindi, a time lag translation of it in Malayalam, Kannada and other Indian languages will be broadcast on FM radio channels catering to the Indian community, as a large number of Indians in the UAE hail from these areas.
