LETTER FROM NEW DELHI

For several weeks now, a surreal atmosphere has prevailed in Delhi. Every day, the Indian capital looks slightly different from the day before. Hundreds of thousands of plants have sprouted along the roadsides, walls have been freshly painted, road tunnels adorned with murals and traffic circles decorated with new fountains and statues of lions and elephants. Lawns are freshly mowed and cleared of debris. The city, once hostile to pedestrians, is now equipped with sidewalks, even bicycle paths and street lamps. Giant foggers crisscross the roads, spraying water to settle airborne dust.

The Indian capital, set to host the G20 leaders' summit on September 9 and 10, is unrecognizable. The city, usually chaotic and congested, is now as clean as a Swiss village. Of course, the beautification efforts don't cover the whole of this metropolis of 25 million inhabitants, which stretches for almost 50 kilometers. Only the southern part, the colonial New Delhi designed by British architect Edwin Lutyens, has been upgraded. This area is home to the city's power centers, embassies and major hotels.

It is generally the city's most charming neighborhood, with its stunning white residences, majestic tree-lined avenues and beautiful parks such as Lodhi Garden, dotted with imposing coconut palms and Mughal ruins, and Rajpath, the avenue that links the former house of the Viceroy of India, now the presidential palace, to India Gate, the triumphal arch erected in memory of the soldiers of the First World War.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who promised to make India the world's third-largest power, has spared no expense in eradicating anything that might mar the landscape: informal vendors' stalls, stray dogs, monkeys fond of upmarket neighborhoods. An animal protection organization accused the authorities of "illegally and cruelly" capturing 1,000 stray dogs in early September. Even children begging at traffic lights have been asked to leave. At least 25 slums have been demolished, and hundreds of thousands of residents evacuated, with no alternative accommodation. They have lost their livelihoods.

This isn't the first time Modi has tried to hide poverty from his guests. In February 2020, when he triumphantly welcomed Donald Trump to Ahmedabad, in his Gujarat fiefdom, the Indian Prime Minister had barriers erected along the convoy route to hide the slums from the American president.

"Delhi, my hometown, is preparing to welcome the G20 world leaders by erasing the working poor from their sight, demolishing slums and homeless shelters on a massive scale, or putting up screens to hide the slums. The working poor build the city. I'm ashamed of a government that's ashamed of its working poor," said Harsh Mander, a human rights activist with a strong commitment to the poor.

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