PANAJI
#SaveMollem Campaign, one of the collectives mostly comprising students and youth organising the movement against the three linear projects cutting through protected forests in and around the Mollem National Park, has come out strongly in support of Disha Ravi, the 22-year-old Bengaluru green activist arrested for allegedly sharing a social media toolkit with international climate change awareness icon Greta Thunberg.
In a statement, #SaveMollem Campaign said: "As the youth of Goa as well as concerned citizens we stand in solidarity with Disha Ravi, Nikita Jacobs and Shantanu Muluk. We demand that governments stop targeting youth and attempting to silence us when we stand up for the security of our own futures."
The statement also recalled the attempt of the Goa government to "stifle" the voices of youth on Goa Liberation Day last year when many young people were detained for gathering peacefully to celebrate the day.
"We commend the courts for standing on our side for voicing our opinion for the right to clean air, water and food, for a future full of forests," the statement said.
India's agriculture sector which employs over 50% of the country's workforce is the worst affected by climate change, it said, adding that it will experience an increase in natural disasters and drastic shifts in weather patterns.
"Shifting monsoon patterns and extreme climatic events such as floods and drought, are also problematic for land-based agriculture, altering fruiting and flowering seasons of wild plants and climate-sensitive behaviour of animals, including important pollinators and seed dispersers. This will likely escalate the human-wildlife conflict, deplete honey and other forest-product production and the overall crop and food security," it said.
The world's climate and India's environment are both deteriorating at a rapid pace and it is the young and passionate that are leading the fight to stop climate change and protect nature, it said, adding whether there cannot be anything more patriotic than protecting the planet and the multiple voices that help a vibrant and flourishing democracy.
