Two fires have created commotion in the world; one, the fire in Amazon rainforest—the world’s green sea and called lungs of the globe—and two, the fire in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK)—the route of almost all subcontinental rivers. No matter they differ in nature, both fires have a huge impact on our globe as the extinction of Amazon which creates 20 percent of the world’s oxygen can push our planet to the brink of dark era in terms of efforts for ‘environment change’ and the crisis in IOK can result in a war, possibly nuclear, between India and Pakistan that surely will result in irrecoverable human loss besides daunting environmental impact in the region as well as the globe. Coincidently, both fires have caught two strong developing economies—South American Brazil and South Asian India–where the incumbent leadership ruling the countries is fundamentalist and greedy that insanely justifies the fires in the name of national development which in return tramples the rights of the people of the land and also threaten the very existence of the earth. Amazon fires have not been new but during the past week the forest developed 1200 new fires and the year 2019 has witnessed a record number of fires. Environmentalists say it is a manmade disaster. The fires which burnt 1330 square miles of the forest in less than a year produced a huge international reaction and the rich countries scheduled to meet in G7 pledged US$ 20 million to fight the fires. However, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro initially rejected the offer and said G7 leaders were trying to save the Amazon “as if we are a colony or no man’s land”. But the pressure was colossal and the government launched an aerial operation to contain the fires. Local people and environmentalists say the Brazilian government wants land for agriculture and mining and is after the Amazon forests. Like in Brazil, greed in India demonstrated out by prime minister Narendra Modi has resulted in a fire in Jammu and Kashmir. Many Indians say: India’s global image now mimics China’s – a rising global economic power with attractive trade and investment opportunities. Last year Modi strangulated Greenpeace India with the removal of organization’s license to operate. The Indian government has been cracking down on all “foreign-funded” charities claiming that the national economy is threatened by environmental restrictions and other “un-Indian” activities. Nine thousand NGOs have been “de-registered” in a concerted effort to force out these “nuisance” groups and cast them as foreign enemies. This year, revocation of article 370 and 35 A, concerning J&K is aimed at opening the areas for the economy no matter what the local people say about it. Be they the tribes of the Amazon or Kashmiris, both fires are not only burning their lives and generations but also the future of this globe.
