All know and would certainly agree that our Muslim brethren and Catholics keep Fridays. The latter during Lent while the former every week, though some Catholics keep it throughout the year. Whilst relating a youth said, “It’s Friday, dal…” I queried even now? “Yes, throughout the year Friday’s only veggies.” Apart from these Friday fast, religious keeping, we’ve also heard about the UAE Friday holiday, but never like the hot news ‘Fridays for Future’ – a global movement of students who leave their classrooms to demonstrate and demand action to curtail the escalating global warming crisis and halt climate change.
It’s a movement begun by Greta Thunberg from Sweden. Greta first became known for her activism in August 2018, spending her school days outside the Swedish parliament to call for stronger action on global warming by holding up a sign saying “School strike for climate”. Soon, other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities. Together, they organised a school climate strike movement under the name ‘Fridays for Future’. After Greta addressed the UN Climate Change conference, student strikes took place every week somewhere in the world.
Greta has recently become the key symbol of, and inspiration for, a new generation of climate activists. As an effective communicator on climate change, she is currently in a league of her own. Greta was 15 years when she began her protest outside the Swedish Parliament. She sat next to a wooden sign that was painted white with “Skolstrejk för Klimatet” written in black. As her protest gained momentum, she was invited to give speeches at a variety of forums, which enabled her to expand on her concerns. So far, she has stated four interwoven themes: that humanity is facing an existential crisis due to climate change; that the current generation of adults is responsible for climate change; that climate change will have a disproportionate effect on young people, and that too little is being done about the situation.
Her sudden rise to world fame has made her a leader. In May, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine, which named her ‘next generation leader’ and noted that many see her as a role model. Greta and the school strike movement were also featured in a 30-minute vice documentary titled ‘Make the World Greta Again’. She has been the recipient of numerous honours and awards; named as one of the 100 most influential people of 2019 by Time magazine, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In India, too, students of St Xavier’s College of Management and Technology Patna have expressed solidarity with the Global Climate Strike. They were among millions of students of colleges and schools who on September 27 took to the streets at more than 4,500 demonstrators in at least 130 countries to demand politicians to urgently tackle the climate crisis.
At Patna College, students of different classes, along with their mentors, displayed posters, raised slogans and staged short skits with messages demanding serious efforts to tackle the climate crisis. Is it an open invitation and inspiration to walk the talk for our Goan school and college students to endorse support?
