A far-right anti-immigrant demonstrator stormed the hotel where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was staying in the Australian city of Melbourne, raising slogans full of abuse.
This incident occurred just hours after Prime Minister Modi arrived in Australia on a two-day visit on Wednesday, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The same person later tried to disrupt Modi’s speech to the Indian diaspora at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on Thursday, the report added. However, he was drowned out by the music and forced to leave.
The protesters, identified as Hugo Lennon, and operating under the social media persona ‘Auspil’, shared a video online in which he is seen shouting at Prime Minister Modi as he arrives on the red carpet in the hotel lobby.
“This is Australia. No more Indians. We don’t want any more immigration. This country is for Australians,” Lennon was heard shouting from the floor above the lobby.
The police quickly pulled the protester away from the first floor balcony overlooking the lobby while he continued to shout slogans.
What did the police say?
A Victoria Police spokesman said a 22-year-old man “attended a hotel and shouted political statements” about 12.30am on Wednesday.
“He was removed by police without incident,” the spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The police have not yet commented on how the videos identified the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s location or how close he is to the Indian leader. But local media reported that “some far-right influencers shared knowledge online about Modi’s movements around the city during his visit.”
Who is Hugo Lennon?
Hugo Lennon is a “neo-Nazi associate” and a wealthy property development heir who has become a far-right influencer, according to a Sydney Herald report.
The Daily Mail reported that Lennon was among the central figures behind the anti-immigrant “March for Australia”, a series of nationwide marches last year that attracted thousands of like-minded anti-immigrant protesters. Australian media later reported that many of its organizers, like Lennon, were linked to various neo-Nazi and white nationalist associations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his two-day visit after addressing the Indian community and holding bilateral talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, as the brief protests failed to disrupt the official program or major diaspora event. From there, He departed for New Zealand on the third leg of his three-country official tour, having previously visited Indonesia.
