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New Delhi: Delhi’s auto-rickshaw driver associations have criticised advertisements displayed on some auto-rickshaws that read “Happy Birthday America! 250 Years Old”, citing growing resentment following the death of three Indian seafarers in a US attack last week.
While the opposition to the advertisement existed from the outset, it has intensified significantly after reports emerged of the Indian sailors’ deaths, the drivers told HT.
A video circulating on X showed a group of auto-rickshaw drivers forcefully removing the banner from one of the vehicles and warning fellow drivers against displaying it. HT could not independently verify the video.
To mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, an advertising campaign was launched in May this year by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, in which around 100 auto-rickshaws in the Capital displayed the American flag and banners featuring its President, Donald Trump. Last week, three Indian sailors were killed in a US strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman.
Highlighting a nation-first stance, 62-year-old Rajinder Soni, general secretary of the Auto Rikshaw Sangh, an association of auto drivers, said that within a few days all banners would be removed from autos.
“Normally, we aren’t allowed to put advertisement on autos without permission from authorities, and in case we do there’s a penalty that needs to be paid. The American Embassy contracted this advertisement to someone and they forcibly put it on several autos. I opposed it initially as well as I failed to understand why should we celebrate 250 years of America especially when there’s ongoing fuel hike crisis in the country primarily due to the ongoing war,” said Soni. “Now that three Indians have been killed in an attack by America, we won’t stop till all advertisements aren’t removed,” Soni added.
Another auto driver, 60-year-old Lal Babu, said the lives of Indians are more important than celebrating the anniversary of the US.
“The material used in the covering the autos are thin, and in the summers it gets heated which is some drivers thought the advertisement will act as another layer of shade. But lives of our countrymen is way more important than that,” said the 60-year-old.
Another driver, M S Mansoori said “what will we get by celebrating America’s anniversary whereas we are only losing since the war started”. Mansoori further said only small fraction of drivers have put the advertisement, including some were forced by the contractor.
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