These Indians were covered from sight, corralled inside, and told to not come out during the G20 summit.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Behind this green veil, where posters of G-20 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hung,
00:06is a place where residents say that they've been hidden away from the world.
00:11They think we're insects.
00:13There's suffocation. We can't even breathe because of this.
00:17It's our duty to contribute to the country.
00:22The government has covered our shoes so that they can hide us.
00:26This is Coolie Camp.
00:29It's a slum in the heart of South Delhi's Vasant Vihar,
00:32just a stone's throw away from luxury hotels like Vasant Continental.
00:36About 10 days before the capital hosted the G-20 summit,
00:40wooden scaffoldings went up around the slum, and it was covered by green sheets.
00:45The people who are coming from abroad,
00:48should understand that this is Delhi's capital.
00:53We're here because of G-20.
00:56We'll show you the main road.
00:59We won't show you the condition of the people inside.
01:03Away from the scaffolding, as we went deeper into the slum,
01:07the residents there had another story to tell.
01:11We're not animals. We're humans.
01:14We need things, but we can't find anything here.
01:18If we go for a few things, they'll say we live on the road.
01:23If we go for a few things, they'll say we live on the road.
01:26If we go for a few things, they'll say we live on the road.
01:30We're not humans.
01:32We have a small job.
01:34We should be able to live in a house.
01:37If this is happening in your country,
01:39we should be able to live in a house.
01:41Why did you cover it up?
01:43We'll find out later.
01:46The majority of the people living inside this green cocoon were daily wagers
01:50who needed to venture out to find work.
01:52How will you go to the market?
01:54He's a daily wager. He earns Rs. 500 a day.
01:57All the labourers go to work from here.
02:00They're the ones who are harassed.
02:03We're going for a job.
02:05If we don't, we'll sit on the road.
02:08You can't go for a job?
02:10No.
02:11For those who lived within these narrow lanes,
02:14this had been home for generations.
02:17But now, they said they couldn't breathe.
02:21Ever since we installed this,
02:23there's been suffocation.
02:25We can't even breathe.
02:27That's why there's so much suffocation.
02:29It's suffocating.
02:31It's suffocating.
02:33It's suffocating from all sides.
02:35Ever since we installed this,
02:37there's no cleaning.
02:39There are insects coming out of the drains.
02:41We don't even look inside the lanes
02:43to see how the cleaners are doing.
02:45If you want to buy things, you can go outside.
02:48We've already bought things.
02:50You have?
02:51Yes.
02:52For a week?
02:53Yes.
02:54We have lentils and vegetables.
02:56This wasn't the first time these people
02:58had been hidden from the world.
03:00We installed it once more.
03:02When?
03:03It's been 15-16 years.
03:05When it was sold,
03:07which one was it?
03:09At that time, we installed 70.
03:1170.
03:12The iron ones.
03:14These green curtains were a part
03:16of the central government's beautification project
03:18in Delhi ahead of the G20 summit
03:20on 9th and 10th September.
03:22They refurbished roads,
03:24constructed underpasses
03:26and commissioned murals on the streets.
03:28The coolie camp fell on the travel route
03:30of the G20 leaders
03:32and now found itself hidden away.
03:34But not everyone was upset about this.
03:36For some people,
03:38whose livelihoods were also run from the coolie camp,
03:40it felt like national duty
03:42to shut shop for three days.
03:44It is our duty
03:46to contribute to the country.
03:48So what will you do?
03:50We will shut shop for three days.
03:52We will stay clean in Delhi.
03:54Delhi will be clean.
03:56People who come from outside
03:58will say,
04:00Delhi is clean.
04:02No problem.
04:04We don't have any problem.
04:06The government has covered the coolies
04:08so that they can hide us.
04:14For more UN videos visit www.un.org