Free Republic

Until a few weeks ago, no one had given much thought to the car park in Gurgaon, a satellite city to India’s capital, Delhi. But for the last few Fridays the dusty, litter-strewn patch of concrete has become a religious battleground. This week as a Hindu nationalist mob assembled in their usual saffron, roars “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail Lord Ram) and “hail the motherland” filled the air. Then a cry rang out: “The Muslims are here.” And the mob began to charge. For more than a decade, this car park has been one of hundreds of sites that the Muslims...

Thirty years ago, Gurgaon barely existed. There were no high-rises. No kitschy shopping malls. No 27-hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf courses. Until six years ago, the metropolis of two million people didn't even have a municipal government. So how did Gurgaon become one of the world's fastest growing cities – India's third wealthiest – in three decades?