Unless you are in an isolated island you are well aware that the Amazon rainforest is burning. While youngsters and environmentalists worldwide share multiple posts about the fire on their social media handles. Bollywood stars are falling prey to old news. Actors like Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma, Akshay Kumar, Disha Patani Dia Mirza, and Vicky Kaushal and others have proactively shared pictures to raise the awareness about the Amazon rainforest fire, but the images seem to be old.
Alia Bhatt shared a collage of images of which one was from 2014 that shows a line of fire beside the Amazon. The picture, was actually from Getty Images, by photographer Mario Tama. Another image that she shared was from an article by the Guardian in 2007. Anushka Sharma on the other hand had blindly re-posted a picture posted by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio who fell into the trap as this image was originally a stockphoto from the website Alamy and had featured in a famous article in 2018. Some Bollywood actors display their ignorance by sharing pictures that are incorrect or not relevant to us but choose to stay mum on local issues that need their support. We speak to youngsters to understand this further.
Tarooj Anwar a youngster with a master’s degree in Climate Change, Development and Policy says, “I understand celebrities have more influence than us and are have more responsibility. But how many of us are simply sharing posts and not making proactive lifestyle choices and changes to live in a more sustainable wa? I’ll come out first here and say that I haven’t made all of the changes I’ve listed. I firmly believe in cleaning myr own house first before judging others. If you’re not donating 1 rupee when you have Rs 100, you’re not going to donate Rs 1,000 when you have Rs 1,00,000.”
Sandeep Aniruddhan an activist says, “Humanity as a species seems poised to be rushing towards its annihilation, and it will take everything else with it. We are hell bent on quickening the ‘Mass Extinction’! I personally am trying to launch newer campaigns and come out with rational solutions. However, all we can do is mobilise mass opinion. Step out, protest, campaign, pull these leaders up. Call for international investigations and drag them into the international court of justice.”
Razi Abbas, an entrepreneur says, “The only thing we should be doing is, stop raising awareness, stop talking about doing something and start doing it. We must select a geography around our homes and protect it and work to revive it like how we wished for the Amazons. If we don’t get involved in the process around our home, then no one deserves to say anything.”
She adds, “I’ve been supporting various causes and groups working towards these causes. I have been working on introducing a model called a social aggregator platform. Where the youth and other stake holders come together to uplift the civic conditions of the city! The whole journey has been around bringing people together for a certain cause as we are the biggest asset or liability in the environment.”
However, Erram Nashith Shariff an engineer opines, “Actors have their image to live up to. In a country like ours that’s so diverse any statement they make will have different interpretations. With reference to the issue I believe a collective measure has to be taken at the earliest, we must contribute to growing the greenbelt. I personally invest my time in planting trees and try reduce my contribution towards carbon footprints.”
