New Delhi has gotten a makeover ahead of this week’s summit of the Group of 20 nations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government hopes the effort, with a $120 million price tag, will help showcase the world’s most populous nation’s cultural prowess and strengthen its position on the global stage.
The city will also be put in lockdown for the 3 days of the summit. Schools, colleges, govt and private offices will be shut. Daily-wage labourers, vegetable vendors, and street hawkers will have to go hungry because Modi wants to present a Delhi that doesn’t exist. What will happen to anyone needing urgent medical care or an ambulance in the city is anyone’s guess.
G20 world leaders travelling to Delhi will be supporting this charade, this curtailing of people’s rights, to pander to the Hindu supremacist dictator.