climate change rally

Today, Thursday 9^th December, SFT Delhi did a silent march in Delhi University, North Campus. The Global Climate Change Summit taking place in Cancun, Mexico is scheduled to come to a close tomorrow. Any talk of climate change, we feel, is incomplete without talk of Tibet. The aim of this march was to raise awareness about the critical role of Tibet in any dialogue concerning Climate Change. 

SFT Delhi student volunteers

We used two banners which emphasized Tibet as the ‘Third Pole’. We also handed out pamphlets containing factual details of the major Asian rivers originating Tibet, rapidly melting glaciers, China’s merciless construction of dams, mining, deforestation, soil erosion and other forms of environmental degradation. The resettlement of nomads in Tibet was also highlighted. The lifestyle of the nomads is ideal for conservation of the environment. The coercive restriction of movement of nomads is directly affecting the Tibetan grasslands. All these points were discussed at the start of the march. 

The march commenced from the Arts Faculty at two o’clock in the afternoon. Our route covered most of the colleges in North Campus: St. Stephen’s, Hindu, Hansraj, Kirori Mal, Ramjas and Shri Ram College of Commerce. There were close to fifty students taking part in the march. There were many Indian supporters, particularly from the North East. Most marchers carried placards reading different slogans: ‘Tibet’s Glaciers are Melting, South Asia is Drying’, ‘Tibet’s Rivers are the Lifeline of Asia’, ‘Stop Mining Tibet’, among a few. En route, many passers-by stopped the student volunteers to enquire about the march. Pedestrians were seen pausing to read the banners and placards. The protesters received encouragement from various people, from rickshaw pullers to busloads of school children to strangers on the road.

Placards 

The marchers returned to the Swami Vivekananda statue in Arts Faculty where everyone gathered to wrap-up the protest. SFT India Grassroots Co-ordinator, Shibayan Raya opened the discussion with some comments on the aim of the march, climate change in general, with specific emphasis on Tibet. He also thanked the volunteers for their support and effort, and briefed the gathering on SFT Delhi’s forthcoming events.