Zubair Qureshi
Hundreds of the pairs of shoe were kept in the green belt outside the National Press Club in an orderly way as part of a ‘shoe strike’ held by youth climate activists.
The demonstration was held by a group of around 40 young activists aged between 16-17 bringing the authorities’ attention to the recent Karachi floods and issues like global warming and the Pakistani government’s listless attitude towards this grave issue.
They held placards on which was written various slogans like “The Karachi Floods Were No Mistake”, “The Climate Crisis is Happening Now,” and “Wake up, Step up, Act now.”
There were countless shoes next to these posters and placards and the young activists were crying “It’s Now or Never” and “There is no Planet B.”
“Covid-19 meant that people did not want to gather in large groups to protest, and therefore, people left their shoes there instead of actually being present.
A shoe strike is a novel idea in the age of Covid-19,” said Hania Imran, one of the organizers of the strike.
The young activists held this strike to demand the government not only acknowledge the symptom of the problem, but the actual problem itself. Meaning they not only help when the floods have happened, but stop the floods from actually happening in the first place.
They questioned why it had got to this point and why there was still no proper action being taken; both by big corporations, the government and the big carbon emitting countries.
They believed it was not just the job of the ministry of climate change, but the entire government itself. They felt their future was being destroyed in front of their eyes.
Khadija, another organizer said, “Let’s not exploit our own future by our own hands. Climate change is undeniably happening. Look around yourself; you might find the whole of Sindh drowning.”
Hania Imran said, “The world leaders are failing us. We are seeing the sixth mass extinction on Earth, and Pakistan will be more affected than contributing. We need international governments and the Pakistani government working together for this problem to be solved before the ten year deadline given to us by the UN. We need to act for the already vulnerable and poor in society who will be affected most.”
Razan, a member and a youth climate activist himself said.
