South Asians Join The March To End Fossil Fuels in New York
The demonstration also marked the beginning of Climate Week in New York City.
The contingent was also joined by a multitude of South Asian social organisations based in New York City, including the South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI) and Sapna.
(Photo Credit: DRUM)
In a remarkable call for climate action, tens of thousands of protesters joined The March to End Fossil Fuels on the streets of midtown Manhattan, New York, on 17 September 2023.
The united voice echoed through the city, calling for immediate action to end the use of fossil fuels as they marched ahead of the opening of the 78th United Nations General Assembly. The demonstration also marked the beginning of Climate Week in New York City.
Anne Augustine, 37, lawyer told me, “I have been worried about climate change, all of my adult life definitely. I saw they were taking a bus down from Syracuse to New York for the march, so I thought I want to join and be a part of it.”
Protestors voiced themselves through eye-catching posters and displays.
“It’s been really scary, this summer in particular, seeing the immediate impact of climate change and how many lives are at stake because of it. There's the fires in Maui, the flooding, earthquakes. The consequences are here,” said Aster Samuel, 26, who works in tech.
“We know more about this because we got a son who is more interested in this and he feels much more stronger than we do because they feel it is like their future. We are at an age where we kind of feel this but probably not as much as the college-going children,” said Srimouli Nalluri, a passerby observing the march.
“There's no silver bullet solution to climate change. We need to bring several solutions together. We need to have different groups working together collaboratively to make something happen. One of the most impactful, efficient, and biggest steps that we can change is moving away from fossil fuels,” said Samanvitha Danda, 26, a sustainability consultant, originally from Bangalore.
Many diasporas, immigrants, students, and visitors who joined the march also displayed their creativity with posters in Hindi, Urdu, Bangla, Punjabi, Nepali, and other South-Asian languages, endorsing immediate action for climate justice.
“I have young cousins. I would have my own kids one day. And I feel like they deserve to have a better life than what I have today. I don't want them to have to walk around with masks in their face when they are five years old or six years old, not able to play sports,” said Sohan Patel, 18, a student at the University of South Carolina.
The Global South Diaspora and Allies contingent led by Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), reported over 700 protestors, representing people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Kenya, Jamaica, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, China, and Black Americans.
“Millions of people in South Asia are impacted and lost every year to climate change and that is why DRUM advocates the involvement of South Asians in fighting for climate justice,” said Mohiba Ahmed, 28, an organiser at DRUM.
This march also carried a personal significance for many POC communities, resonating with immigrant stories of experiencing climate change and disaster displacement in their country of origin. According to DRUM, some people even mentioned they were forced to leave their villages because farming does not provide a sustainable income anymore.
Amidst this diverse sea of voices, chants of "Inquilab" reverberated from the Global South Diaspora and Allies contingent led by Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), a South Asian and Indo-Caribbean advocacy organization.
A larger focus of the posters, speeches, and the march, in general, remained to hold US President Joe Biden accountable for his continued approval of permits for new oil and gas drilling projects and urging him to end the use of fossil fuels.
The contingent also voiced their concerns over the effects of the climate crisis in NYC, including flooded basements during hurricanes, and respiratory issues from the wildfire smoke from Canada that took over NYC for several days this summer.
Among the diverse crowd, which spanned all age groups and backgrounds, it was the young activists and students who emerged as the driving force of the march.
(Tehsin Pala is a graduate student at New York University, pursuing a joint master’s degree in Global Journalism and International Relations. She mainly writes about minorities, especially women.)
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