BRICS Summit and Slums: When Poverty Is Hidden Behind a Curtain | Cartoon

 

When Poverty Is Hidden Behind a Curtain, the Problem Doesn't Disappear

During an international summit, the world gets a carefully prepared view of a city. Roads are cleaned, buildings are decorated, security is tightened and everything possible is done to make the surroundings look presentable.

But what happens when the people living in poverty are part of the scenery?

The cartoon takes a sharp look at the controversy over slums being screened from view during the BRICS Summit. Instead of showing the reality of urban poverty, the uncomfortable parts of the city can simply be covered up—quite literally.

In the cartoon, a child is struggling beneath a huge covering while the conversation above it continues as if everything is perfectly normal. The visual irony is hard to miss: the poor may be hidden from the visitors, but they haven't disappeared.

There is something almost magical about the idea. If a problem looks unpleasant, put a curtain in front of it. If the poverty isn't visible, perhaps the city can appear prosperous. And if the international guests don't see it, maybe nobody needs to talk about it.

Except, of course, the people underneath the curtain can still see it very clearly.

Cities hosting major international events naturally want to present their best face. Infrastructure, cleanliness and civic improvements are legitimate priorities. But there is a difference between improving living conditions and simply improving the view.

A screen can hide a slum for a few hours. It cannot hide the reasons why the slum exists.

And that is where the cartoon's humour turns into a more uncomfortable question: Are we trying to remove poverty—or merely remove it from the frame?

Perhaps the real achievement would not be making poverty invisible during an international summit. It would be making poverty unnecessary in the first place.

Until then, a curtain is just a curtain.

It doesn't solve the problem.

It only makes sure that the problem doesn't appear in the photograph.

Cartoon by : Kirtish Bhatt