History of Bombay/Mumbai, by Lili Frèrebeau (Le Monde Diplomatique, November 2024)

“Where I come to lay my head in the evening, life is hell, but the world of luxury that I see from afar shines with a thousand temptations, like a precious stone. » This quote from the Dalit poet Daya Pawar (1935-1996) alone contains all the paradoxes of Bombay. Becoming Mumbai in 1995, the city embodies during the 19th and 20th centuries as much the internationalization of India and the advent of predatory capitalism as the rise of powerful social movements. Mumbai attracts migrants, condemned to crowding together in often catastrophic conditions, at the mercy of industry tycoons, property owners and disease. Frightening, it pushes back when its streets show the violence that corrupts society and politics. The authors explore how certain ambitious aspirations have shaped this ever-expanding city, disregarding ecological considerations, clawing at an ocean that seems poised to reclaim its rights. The scale of this environmental challenge, combined with the xenophobic withdrawal driven for a long time by Hindu supremacism, leaves uncertainty over its future.