Sultana Fareed
When the Climate Front Jammu’s team decided to collaborate in the Maasika Mahotsav, it left many stunned and crammed with questions. However, when we collaborated with our fellow team of ‘The Queers from Jammu’ to make the dream, of havingJammu and Kashmir’s first ever pride parade, come true, those people or queries couldn’t stay hushed anymore.
There were questions and remarks rumbling in all corners. Everyone eager to unravel the mystery as of why is CFJ taking about all this, instead of just sticking to the climate crisis? Many even claimed that maybe we are diverting from our cause. But are we really?
The actual basic theory behind it all is the existing intersection of climate and social justice. Let’s break it down slightly for easier understanding.
CLIMATE JUSTICE – The concept suggests fair sharing, just division plus equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of climate change, along with the responsibility to deal with it all.
SOCIAL JUSTICE – The theory favours fair distribution of opportunities, privileges and wealth within a society.
Now, social justice is very vital for enabling every individual to live freely and fully. If the orthodox stereotypes, taboos and discriminations are not detached from our society, then the individuals will end up squandering their entire energy and focus on fighting for their own basic rights and freedom – which they rightfully deserve and should have gotten without any argument, in the first place itself. Hence, the idea of collectively combating climate crisis never even enters the frame, since the entire society is distributed in clusters.
In fact, in many cases it shouldn’t be a shock if the idea of working for a better climate itself might not even exist. All because everyone is busy fighting their own personal battles in order to feel more belonged.
Moreover the main aim behind fighting for social equality, betterment of society or climate crisis is to develop a region that is much healthier and safer to live in. Therefore, even if somehow we manage to tackle climate crisis amidst the social drawbacks, we will yet not have a harmonious community. In such a case how can we guarantee an equal and justified distribution of resources without any environmental exploitation? The ones who will have excess, will reserve it all while the other might opt for unsafe measures to gain it.
So will there be a climate justice without social justice? Not at all. Social justice is very critical for gaining climate justice. In fact, we won’t truly attain climate justice as long as we fail to gain social justice.
Thus, because we understand it all, we realized that just fighting against climate crisis isn’t enough. To achieve our goal much quicker and better, we have to remove the faulty rituals of our society too.
AND THAT IS WHY,
CLIMATE FRONT JAMMU,
AN ENVIRONMENTAL NGO,
IS FIGHTING AGAINST TABOOS, BUT STILL WORKING FOR CLIMATEJUSTICE.
(The views expressed are that of the author. The Straight Line takes no responsibility of the same.)
