Oprah Winfrey's Bodyguards Rough Up Indian Journalists
NEW DELHI --Oprah Winfrey's visit Thursday to the northern Indian holy city of Vrindavan (about 90 miles from the capital Delhi) ended up making news for the wrong reasons, with reports indicating that some of the talk show's bodyguards were involved in a scuffle with Indian journalists who were covering her visit.
On her first trip to India, Winfrey landed Monday in Mumbai where a glittering Bollywood party was hosted in her honor. Winfrey's agenda includes shooting segments for her show Oprah's Next Chapter in addition to another special, India Experience during her visit which concludes Sunday.
On Thursday morning, Winfrey arrived in Vrindavan -- a holy city near Mathura, the birthplace of the Hindu God Krishna -- and went to visit Ma Dham, an ashram for widows. Winfrey and her accompanying TV crew filmed a documentary on widows and also took part in prayers at their ashram.
But according to reports, when the waiting journalists tried to enter the Ma Dham ashram, they faced resistance from Winfrey's security detail, which included two American and a dozen Indian bodyguards sourced from a security agency.
Media men and those from TV channels with cameras were manhandled by those in charge of security of Oprah Winfrey and police had to intervene, a journalist from a Hindi daily was quoted stating by the Hindustan Times newspaper Friday.
According to reports, three of Winfrey's Indian bodyguards were arrested following the incident, in which some video cameras were allegedly broken. Following a complaint filed by media personnel, the police confirmed that no one was injured in the incident. The bodyguards were later released after they wrote a letter of apology to the media according to police authorities.
There were some complaints from local media about the highhanded attitude of security men accompanying Winfrey, but the matter was amicably resolved, Mathura senior superintendent of police (SSP) Prem Gautam! said.
The scuffle apparently delayed Winfrey's arrival in Agra home of the Taj Mahal -- about an hour's drive away from Vrindavan. Winfrey spent over an hour at the Taj where her camera crew also shot scenes for her show.
Philosophers and writers have described the beauty of the Taj Mahal but I don't have words for it, Winfrey later told reporters with her visit getting mainstream coverage as seen on English news channel News X.
Winfrey will be at the Jaipur Literature Festival from Friday where she is expected to tape a segment of Next Chapter with renowned new age author Deepak Chopra.