NEW DELHI LETTER
For the past few weeks, there has been a surreal atmosphere in Delhi. Each day, the Indian capital looks a little less than it did the day before. Plants have appeared by the hundreds of thousands along the roads, the walls have been freshly painted, the road tunnels adorned with frescoes, the roundabouts decorated with new fountains, statues of lions or elephants. The lawns are freshly shaved, cleared of the slightest rubbish. The city, impassable for pedestrians, has been enriched with sidewalks and even cycle paths, streetlights. Kinds of giant foggers crisscross the roads to spray water and bring down the dust in suspension in the air.
The Indian capital, which is to host the summit of G20 heads of state on September 9 and 10, is unrecognizable. The city, usually so chaotic and congested, is as clean as a Swiss village. Admittedly, the embellishment works do not concern the entire territory of this megalopolis of 25 million inhabitants which extends over nearly 50 kilometres. Only the south, colonial New Delhi, bequeathed by the British architect Edwin Lutyens, benefited from it. It brings together places of power, embassies, large hotels.
This perimeter is already usually the most charming, with its splendid white residences, its majestic tree-lined alleys, its sublime parks, such as Lodhi Garden, punctuated by giant coconut palms and Mughal remains, and the Rajpath, the alley linking the old Palace of the Viceroy of India, now the Presidential Palace, at India Gate, the triumphal arch erected in memory of the soldiers of the First World War.
Twenty-five slums razed
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who promises to elevate India to the rank of third world power, has spent lavishly to remove everything that could stain the landscape: informal vendor stalls, stray dogs, monkeys who love upscale neighborhoods… An animal protection organization accuses the authorities of having captured “unlawfully and cruelly” 1,000 stray dogs at the beginning of September. Even children begging at red lights have been asked to clear off. At least twenty-five slums have been razed, hundreds of thousands of residents evacuated, with no alternative housing. They lost their livelihood.
This is not the first time that Narendra Modi has tried to hide poverty from the eyes of his hosts. In February 2020, when he triumphantly welcomed Donald Trump, in Ahmedabad, in his stronghold of Gujarat, the Indian Prime Minister had palisades erected along the convoy to conceal the slums from the American president.
You have 50.15% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.