The Modi-led Indian government has been accused of confining the residents of Delhi slum areas in an attempt to hide the poor conditions of the people during the G20 summit.
Indian journalist Priyanshi Sharma posted a video of the people living in the area which was covered with green sheets amid the G20 summit in the capital city of India.
The residents accused the government of attempting to hide their true conditions from the world leaders and disturbed their daily lives by not allowing them to get out of their homes or go to work.
Social media commentators called it a blatant attempt to show a face of India which was not real and that the government instead of eradicating poverty was trying to hide them from the world behind curtains.
Analyst Ashok Swain dubbed the government’s action as jailing the poor people living in Delhi behind green curtains.
A commentator on X said that India is a place where the most primitive and unfair life is going on.
“Apartheid ruling depending on caste system is alive there,” he wrote.
Another commentator said that hiding poverty is not the solution.
“They are not even the dirt-poor portion of india! Inconvenient truth is majority of indians are dirt-poor,” he added.
Hussain expressed hope for a betterment in the lives of the impoverished, writing that no state should ignore the hardships faced by the underserved people.
Saroaj Devi heard about the G20 when the authorities began erecting tall green walls around the slum in Delhi where she lived, The Guardian reported.
The barricades were intended to hide their impoverished homes from the foreign leaders and dignitaries who descended on India’s capital for the G20 leaders’ summit.
While the government spent millions to give a glossy upgrade to Delhi, its poor communities were removed from sight and several slums were razed.
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“They have covered our area so that poor people like us, and poverty in the country, is not witnessed by the people arriving from abroad,” Devi said. “When it is election time, every politician comes to see us. They eat with us and make promises. But today, they are ashamed of our presence.”
On the outside of the green sheets that surrounded slums, large posters bearing the face of Indian PM Narendra Modi were placed.
For the residents living in the Coolie camp in South Delhi, the political summit dealt a blow not only to their dignity but also to their livelihoods.
In a bid to keep security tight and the roads clear as world leaders arrived, a citywide shutdown was imposed on the 32 million people living in Delhi.
All schools, offices, workplaces, markets, restaurants and non-food shops were ordered to close for three days, movement on the roads was restricted, all food deliveries were banned and people were recommended to stay at home.
