environmentalists-from-india

"Not many people realize that India is host to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. It is believed that the earliest Jews came to India to trade in the time of King Solomon but, after the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD, many refugees settled in Kerala. St. Thomas the Apostle is said to have landed in Muzaris at around this time and lived amongst the community."

"Aurobindo’s change of direction may seem inexplicable, but his writings explain his reasons. He seems to have come to the conclusion that he had already accomplished his role as India’s Mazzini by triggering the flame of nationalism. It was now a matter of time before the British were forced to leave. However, he also felt that there was a more important civilizational battle that India would have to fight, which would prove much harder than just gaining political freedom. After centuries under foreign rule, Indians had come to see their own culture from the perspective of those who had conquered them. Many members of the Indian elite had imbibed the idea that sacred texts such as the Vedas and the Upanishads were just superstition—like Aurobindo’s father, they had come to believe modernization meant Westernization. One could argue that this shows incredible foresight, as more than a century later, seven and a half decades after gaining political freedom, this remains a matter of hot debate in contemporary India. He felt that it was his duty to rediscover the true core of Indian civilization and present it to Indians and the wider world. With this in mind, Sri Aurobindo dived deep into the Rig Veda, the most ancient and revered of Hindu texts."

"“Indian history is not what we have been taught to believe” and that people are led to feel that the Indian had “no agency in world history”.“To change the narrative of who Indians were historically, see, one of the things I’ve been trying to do and not just through this project, I’ve been writing these history books, is to show that Indian history is not what we have been taught to believe”, he said. “That it’s not the case that Indians were somehow a passive people sitting in India waiting for conquerors to come and give us civilisation and that we have no agency. This is not a history at all”, Sanyal added. “A very little bit of digging into our own history will show us that this is not our history. We have a history. We’ve got a rambunctious history of adventurers and mercenaries and doing all kinds of interesting things”, he said. “One of the things we did was very early on, long before even the Phoenicians, who are famous mariners of history, we were sailing during Harappan times to the Middle East. The seals were found in Mesopotamia”, he said. “We had a port at Lothal and Dholavira and all of these places. But even later, it continues. And that’s why they were sailing out to Indonesia. They were sailing all the way through to Korea”, he said. “In fact, Korean history actually begins with the marriage of a local prince to a princess from Ayodhya”. He added that the legacy of such connections endures to this generation. “The Macaulay mindset is not really about Macaulay the person. What it really is about is this psychological idea that we have imbibed into our nervous system, almost, that we are somehow functioning because civilisation was given to us by other people and that we have never had agency”, he said. “So, okay, the Mughals came and built the Taj Mahal. That’s fine. You know, the British can come and do something, but we should not do anything. So now this is imbued into us in a very fundamental way”, Sanyal said. He added that this attitude continues to shape public discourse even today. “It showed through, for example, when we wanted to build a new Parliament”, he said, underlining how deeply rooted the mindset remains in contemporary thinking."

"The term ‘majoritarianism’ is used in India as a convenient way to demonise Hindus without any reference to first principles."

"If Sher Shah had lived longer, it is possible that we would not remember the Mughal rule as anything more than one more Central Asian raid."

"The Ganga’s southward drift was arrested only when it nudged into the Vindhyas near Chunar. It is the only place in the plains where a hill commands such a view over the river, making Chunar fort a coveted strategic location"

"This doesn’t mean we have to stop developing. Just we have to do it differently."

"It didn’t much matter how well we understood the issue if we weren’t to take that both were common property resources to share and manage globally."

"We cannot afford to do what China and America did: have decades of 8 percent GDP growth, then do a cleanup act later."

"Now you don’t; everyone knows what it is. It’s right there for you to see."

"What we need today as a nation is a new paradigm of growth—whenever and however it happens."

"No one is an environmentalist by birth. It is only your path, your life, your travels that awaken you."

"Climate change has no border. India is also equally responsible for the global carbon emissions. Developed nations should invest more for a green economy as compared to developing ones, but India can lead and be a role model in fighting the climate crisis because we have full potential to do so. Besides the EU and the United States, two of the highest global carbon emitters like China and India are two giant neighboring countries and they’re not doing enough. They are still giving huge subsidies to fossil fuel companies, which are responsible for massive carbon and greenhouse gases emissions globally."

"Indigenous people are playing a crucial role in protecting our planet. We are not on front covers, but we are the first line of defenders. Due to rising violence against Indigenous communities around the world, it’s an alarming situation for all of us along with the bigger challenges of protecting our forests and the environment. Even in my home state, the government has given licenses to big foreign companies based in the Netherlands to exploit our indigenous forest for oil exploration while local people are opposing it. Many Indigenous activists are in jail or are even murdered in several places across the world. Denial of the climate crisis by our leaders increases the threat to us. As both the climate movement and Indigenous rights movement are fighting for the common cause, it’s time to come together to strengthen our movement with one common voice to protect our rights and to defend the defenders. We are interconnected and interdependent. The climate movement will fail without indigenous people."

"My voice will represent the unheard voices of the millions of people of the world and also for the countless, voiceless animals.thumb|Licypriya"

"I’m pressuring the government to ensure the health of every child in India. I will continue to put more pressure on our world leaders," Kangujam said. "The future is the children. The world needs to make a better planet for us. Our leaders need to act now before it’s too late.""

"I will listen to their stories and will also tell the world about the problems they are facing. We will talk about long-term peace and development and how we can fight climate change together,"

"I was born in a small village of Manipur in North East India surrounded by lush green mountains and an alluring atmosphere. I never realized what I’m doing is activism until 2018 when people started calling me a climate activist. In 2016, I came to Delhi for the first time for my schooling, but my life became very messy due to the high air pollution level. Later, I moved to Bhubaneswar, Odisha, in the same year for my schooling. Again my home in Odisha was hit by Cyclone Titli in 2018 and Cyclone Fani in 2019. These incidences in my life turned me into an outspoken child that talks about the impact of climate change to our leaders when they failed to act on it."

"Our leaders need political willpower to cut down emissions and become a net-zero, carbon-neutral country by 2035 or 2050. I understand developing countries have a bigger challenge. India also is a big country with a large population; our government faces a lot of challenges to set a deadline to achieve global commitments, but we need to increase the speed. I’m very much optimistic that if developed countries stand together with those developing countries, we can easily achieve the Paris Climate Agreement before the deadline. The biggest problem is that our leaders don’t trust each other. If they trust each other, we can easily fight the global climate crisis with a concrete action plan."

"Climate education is very important if we really would like to fight the climate crisis. Adults are not doing enough already, and I don’t have much faith in them to come to the frontline and save our planet and future. The last hope is children. If we include climate education in schools, then we can fight climate change from the grassroots. It will help to educate adults and our leaders via their children and grandchildren, so that we altogether can support each other to save our environment and our planet. This also increases environmental consciousness among the people in addition to a love and respect for nature. I am even preparing to go to court to direct the government to include it as mandatory in all national curriculums of various school boards. I trust it will be a very successful mission."

""Your action today will decide our future tomorrow. We are already the victim of climate change. I don’t want my future generations to face the same consequences again. Sacrificing the lives of the millions of innocent children for the failures of our leaders is unacceptable at any cost…After thinking many times, I decided to do this protest. Even my mom tried to stop me but I convinced her that ‘Everything will be alright.’ I am taking the risks of my life because I want to save our Planet and our Future. My voice deserve to be heard by the world. Let's stand together by uniting, instead of dividing.”"

"I have come here to tell world leaders that this is the time to act, and it is a real climate emergency,” she began confidently. “When I was born, our leaders had already met 16 times in the COP and already knew about the bad effects of climate change.... So why should I come here, why should I speak here? I have to go back to my school, I have to play, I have to study….”"

"Usually at such big events, only foreign presidents and prime ministers are invited as special guests. I feel this invitation is very special and has a great message on how small island countries like East Timor are threatened by climate change,"

"Finally I met my mentor Nobel Laureate & the next President of East Timor 🇹🇱 Sir Jose Ramos today. He will be taking oath (President's Inauguration) tomorrow. Despite his busy schedule, he personally came down to meet me in my hotel. I'm deeply touched by his gesture &humbleness."

"This will bring transparency and accountability to our leaders. This will benefit people, especially millions of poor people in the country,"

"“The inclusion of climate activists in every field and decision-making process is quite important."

"Religious conflict is not unique to India. It happens in most parts of the world. Unfortunately, it appears that while there might be some genuine cases of religious conflict that must be addressed by the laws of the land firmly and strictly; most it seems are an exaggeration to create an impression that India and its majority population of Hindus are unleashing unwarranted atrocities on Christians."

"I believe that every Christian who is a victim of a religious hate crime must get justice under the laws of India but a Christian who falls prey to propaganda and works to portray India in questionable light must face the law for the lies spread."

"As an Indian Christian, I have always advocated that claims of the ‘Christian’ community being persecuted in India are mostly exaggerated and play into a larger game plan to cover up the growing menace of forceful, coercive, and allurement-based conversion in India."

"The tense situation in Delhi during those days has been described by Kripalani : ‘‘Soon after the partition, the atmosphere in Delhi had grown more tense as refugees in thousands poured in from West Punjab. They brought with them gruesome tales of their sufferings in Pakistan-whole villages devastated, women dishonoured, carried away, distributed as “‘booty,’” sometimes openly sold. Infants-in-arms and children were speared to death in cold blood. Wives came without their husbands, husbands without their wives and children without their parents. There were innumerable conversions. Arson and loot were rampant. Attacks were made on refugee convoys and refugee trains on the route. Many were killed and many more reached Delhi having been wounded on the way. The Muslims who fled in panic to Pakistan on account of rioting in some parts of Northern India fared no better. As the biggest migration of population recorded in history was in progress, a most dangerous situation arose in the capital. Every fourth person in Delhi was a Hindu or Sikh refugee from Pakistan. They were furious not only against the Muslims who were at the root of partition but also against the Congress for agreeing to it. “To make matters worse, there were, rumours of a coup d’etat on the part of the Muslims to seize the administration of the capital. The fact that the Muslims had collected arms gave credence to the rumours. Searches of Muslim houses by the police had revealed dumps of bombs, arms and ammunition. Sten-guns, Bren-guns, mortars and wireless transmitters were seized and secret miniature factories for the manufacture of the same were uncovered. At a number of places these weapons were actually used by the Muslims in pitched battles. The Sikh and Hindu refugees and many of the non-Muslim residents had no faith in the ability of the Government to afford them protection from any attack from the Muslims. Some even doubted whether the Government would take action against the Muslims. --- Riots broke out in Delhi on September 4, 1947. The Government immediately went into action. “The task of the Government in quelling the riots was made difficult as the bulk of the police was Muslim. A number of them in their uniform and with arms had deserted. The loyalty of the test was doubtful. The Government had to bring police and military forces from other provinces.’’"

"Yet our efforts to save it [China and its goodwill] will only result in this that they will not give us credit for good intentions. They will only give us credit for cowardice. It will never appear to a bully that you are doing things out of your goodness; it will only appear to him that you are frightened."

"It is also well-known that in the new map of China other border territories like Nepal, Sikkim, etc., figure. This gives us an idea of the aggressive designs of China. Let us see what the Chinese themselves did in the Korean War. As soon as the U.N. troops, or more correctly the American troops, reached the borders of China, it felt insecure and it immediately joined the Korean War. I do not say that because China conquered Tibet, we should have gone to war with it,... But this does not mean that we should recognize the claim of China on Tibet. We must know that it is an act of aggression against a foreign nation."

"“The Working Committee met in a tense atmosphere. Everybody felt depressed at the prospect of the partition of the country. The Viceroy’s proposals were accepted without much discussion. Asa matter of fact, Jawaharlal and Vallabh- bhai were already committed to the acceptance of the proposals. There was no critical examination. For instance, in Sind where there was a League Ministry, the decision of accession to Pakistan was left to the Assembly. In the North-West Frontier Province, where there was a Congress Ministry in office, this decision was not left to the Assembly, but there was to be a referendum of the people to ascertain anew their pre- ference. Again, while the Sylhet district of Assam having a Muslim majority was carved out of the province for ascertaining the will of the people, the same choice was denied to the district of Tharparkar in Sind on the borders of Rajasthan where there was a Hindu majority. It was quite natural for our foreign masters to ignore all these inconsistencies in order to favour the League; one cannot understand why we of the Working Committee did not even draw their attention to these important details.’’7"

"The situation created in the N.W.F.P. and the Punjab had become serious. Riots broke out first in N.W.F.P. and thereafter spread to the whole of the Punjab. On our way to Kashmir (in May 1947) we stopped at Lahore and from there went up to Rawalpindi. We found intense apprehension among the Hindus because the Muslim leaders were openly and boastfully talking of using violence against the Hindus. In the Rawalpindi district, we found widespread destruction. Every Hindu and Sikh public building in that city had been turned into a refugee camp. We saw a house where the children from the village had collected and which had been set on fire. We saw the bones of the little ones. “In a village called Thoa Khalsa, after a prolonged fight between Hindus and Sikhs on one side and Muslims on the other, when all men belonging to the Sikh and Hindu com- munities were killed, seventy-four women and girls and children decided to save their honour by jumping into the well of a house where they had all collected for safety. Led by the wife of the owner of the house, Smt- Lajwanti, all of them jumped into the well after reciting japji. We were shown the well and given photographs showing it full of dead bodies. ““We were informed that when some local leaders ap- proached a highly-placed British official for protection, he said, “Go to Gandhi, he will come to your help."

"‘There was strong opposition to the Tesoy) tion headed by Purushottham Das Tandon, but Gandhiji himgai¢ advised the members to accept the decision of the Working Committee, though he personally thought no good would come, out of it. He asked them to trust their leaders. The Tesolution might not have been passed but for Gandhiji’s advice.’’8"

"“A transfer of population which Gandhiji and other leaders wanted to avoid took place automatically .in the case of the Punjab and the Frontier and Sind on account of these fresh riots. This unfortunately we had not anticipated. Hindu refugees from these places poured into India. They were killed, robbed and looted in transit. Muslims from India going to Pakistan were subjected to similar barbarities.’’?"

"On the 24th (October 1946) Diwali was to be celebrated by the Hindus as ‘“‘Dark’”? Diwali, a mourning day, in sympathy with the sufferers in Bengal. In Chapra a local Muslim leader exhorted his followers to ‘rejoice’ by illuminating their houses. On the 25th when a meeting was held by the Hindus to protest against the happenings in Bengal, riots broke out’ in all their intensity and ferocity and raged for five days... 76 ‘Communal tension had been growing for some time past. The Muslim League, infuriated at the success of the Congress Ministry, had let loose- insidious propaganda of ‘atrocities’ committed on the Muslim minority in the Congress- governed provinces. They also published a mendacious report called the ‘Pirpur Report’ which helped to inflame the sentiments of both Hindus and Muslims. “Also, during the ‘Quit India’ movement there was a great upheaval in Bihar. At that time the attitude of the Muslim League was such that the general opinion was that it stood as a ‘barrier to the freedom struggle.’ This had made the Muslims unpopular. “ “In Calcutta riots, as we have seen, at first the Muslims had the upper hand. The labouring class of Hindus from Bihar had greatly suffered at the hands of Muslim rioters. They brought with them harrowing accounts of their experience. This excited the anger of the Hindus. At this time a pamphlet purporting to have been issued by some League leader was distributed in Bihar. It contained instructions ‘to kill the Hindus,’ Hindus believed that the Muslims were planning some mischief in Bihar. On top of this, an unfortunate incident occurred in Muzaffarpur towards the end of September. It was reported that a Hindu girl abducted from Calcutta was brought to Bihar and kept confined in the house of a local Muslim, The Hindus tried to persuade him to release the girl. Failing in this, the crowd went to search the house. But they found that the man had disappeared along with the girl. At this the crowd lost control and wreaked vengeance on the local Muslims by looting and burning their houses and killing some of them, So far as the League Government in Bengalwas concerned, it had helped the Muslim rioters. It roused itself only when the Hindus took action on their own. In Bihar the Hindus being in the majority did not wait to be attacked by the Muslims.’’ “The Viceroy no more prevented the Central Government from acting on the plea of provincial autonomy... When we re- buked the people for what they had done they did fee] ashamed. The police repeatedly resorted to firing to quell the rioting .... Those who raided Muslim houses were not accompanied by sadhus and sannyasis; they were not fighting a jihad as the Muslims were doing in Calcutta, Noakhali and in the North. It was collective revenge coupled with the apprehension that if they did not take the offensive there would be no protection for them.... While the Hindus in Noakhali would not get encouragement from Gandhiji’s visit to return to their homes, the same cannot be said of the Muslims in Bihar... At Gandhiji’s suggestion, at many places the Hindus went to the camps and brought back Muslims to their village homes. Hindus contributed funds to the the rehabilitation of Muslim refugees. Hindu women donated their ornaments to Gandhiji for the purpose and fed and looked after Muslims, “The work of relief and rehabilitation that was going on was now placed under a Muslim Minister, Abdul Qayum Ansari, Gandhiji’s work was, however, made difficult by the attitude of the Muslim League workers. The Government of Bihar, as a gesture of goodwill, had handed over the camps to be run by the volunteers of the League. Soon the camps became the hot-beds of intrigue, and the work of rehabilitation was hampered greatly as they prevailed upon the refugees not to go back to their homes. The Muslim League Ministry of Bengal also did all in its power to prevent the Muslim refugees from returning to their homes in Bihar. They wanted to draw as large a number of Bihari refugees as possible to Bengal in order to settle them in the bordering districts where the Hindus were in a majority.’’"

"It is nothing unusual for countries to criticize each other in their internal and external policy. Nobody takes this criticism to be interference in the internal affairs of the country. If it were so, the hard criticism that is being leveled by China itself against Yugoslavia would be considered interference in the internal affairs of the country. But in the Communist world there are two standards of judgement—one for themselves and the other for others with whom they think they are in opposition."

"Recently we have entered into a treaty with China. I feel that China, after it had gone Communist, committed an act of aggression against Tibet. The plea is that China had the ancient right of suzerainty. This right was out of date, old and antiquated. It was never exercised in fact. It had lapsed by the flux of time. Even if it had not lapsed, it is not right in these days of democracy by which our Communist friends swear, by which the Chinese swear, to talk of this ancient suzerainty and exercise it in a new form in a country which had and has nothing to do with China."

"I have seen and felt the form, continuity and meaning of India’s past. History, as I see it, is being consciously lived by Indians. Attempts to complete what has happened in the past form no small part of our modern struggle; there is a conscious as well as an unconscious attempt to carry life to perfection, to join the fragments of existence, and to discover the meaning of the visions which they reveal."

"Readers were regaled with Alexander’s short-lived and unfructuous invasion of India; they were left in ignorance of the magnificent empire and still more enduring culture which the Gangetic Valley had built up by the time. Lurid details of intrigues in the palaces of the Sultans of Delhi…are given, but little light is thrown on the exploits of the…heroes and heroines who for centuries resisted the Central Asiatic barbarians...the Great National Revolt of 1857 gave the readers a glimpse of how the brave foreigner crushed India. It is only outside so-called historical studies that the reader found how…patriotic men and women of all communities…rallied…to drive out the hated foreigner. The multiplicity of our languages and communities is widely advertised but little emphasis is laid on certain facts which make India what she is."

"The role of alien invasions in the history of India, hitherto exaggerated, deserves to be reduced to its appropriate proportions…But during all this period, the vitality of the race and culture…expressed itself with unabated vigour. The history of India is not the story of how she underwent foreign invasions, but how she resisted them and eventually triumphed over them."

"If however the misuse of this word 'secularism' continues...if every time there is an inter-communal conflict, the majority is blamed regardless of the merits of the questions; if our holy places of pilgrimage like Banaras, Mathura and Rishikesh continue to be converted into industrial slums... the springs of traditional tolerance will dry up."

"These unfortunate postures have been creating a sense of frustration in the majority community."

"The modern historian of India must approach her as a living entity with a central continuous urge, of which the apparent life is a mere expression. Without such an outlook, it is impossible to understand India, which…stands today strong…determined not to be untrue to its ancient self."

"All of us acquiesced in what Jawaharlal Nehru had already done... only one or two venturing to voice feeble criticism. Among them was Sri N.V. Gadgil for whom there was a snub: “Don’t you realize that the Himalayas are there?” I timidly ventured to say that in the seventh century Tibetans had crossed the Himalayas and invaded Kanauj.... To my knowledge the meeting suggested by Sardar did not take place... Comment is hardly necessary."

"In its (secularism) name, anti-religious forces, sponsored by secular humanism or Communism, condemns religious piety, particularly in the majority community.."

"To be a history in the true sense of the word, the work must be the story of the people inhabiting a country. It must be a record of their life from age to age presented through the life and achievements of men whose exploits become the beacon-lights of tradition; through the characteristic reaction of the people to physical and economic conditions; through political changes and vicissitudes which create the forces and conditions which operate upon life; through characteristic social institutions, beliefs and forms; through literary and artistic achievements; through the movements of thought which from time to time helped or hindered the growth of collective harmony; through those values which the people have accepted or reacted to and which created or shaped their collective will; through efforts of the people to will themselves into an organic unity. The central purpose of a history must, therefore, be to investigate and unfold the values which, age after age, have inspired the inhabitants of a country to develop their collective will and to express it through the manifold activities of their life. Such a history of India is still to be written."

"In its name, again, politicians in power adopt a strange attitude which, while it condones the susceptibilities, religious and social, of the minority communities, is too ready to brand similar susceptibilities in the majority community as communalistic and reactionary."

"In a 1942 article entitled “ ‘Histories’ of India,” K.M. Munshi wrote, “Most of our histories of India suffer from a lack of perspective. They deal with certain events and periods not from the Indian point of view, but from that of some source to which they are partial and which by its very nature is loaded against India.”"