NEW DELHI: Eight-year-old climate activist Licypriya Kangujam on Friday turned down the offer to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi's #SheInspiresUs campaign for International Women's Day. Kangujam took it to Twitter to inform her decision to the Prime Minister and the country.
“Please don’t celebrate me if you are not going to listen to my voice,” Kangujam told Modi in a tweet. “Thank you for selecting me amongst the inspiring women of the country under your initiative #SheInspiresUs. After thinking many times, I decided to turn down this honour,” she wrote on her Twitter page.
Dear @narendramodi Ji,
— Licypriya Kangujam (@LicypriyaK) March 6, 2020
Please don’t celebrate me if you are not going to listen my voice.
Thank you for selecting me amongst the inspiring women of the country under your initiative #SheInspiresUs. After thinking many times, I decided to turns down this honour. 🙏🏻
Jai Hind! pic.twitter.com/pjgi0TUdWa
Earlier, Kangujam's name was announced by the government as part of the campaign to honour potential women on the occasion of International Women's Day. “Licypriya Kangujam is a child environmental activist from Manipur. In 2019, she was awarded a Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Children Award, a World Children Peace Prize, and an India Peace Prize. Isn’t she inspiring? Do you know someone like her? Tell us, using #SheInspiresUs,” MyGovIndia wrote on its official Twitter page.
Explaining her stand, Kangujam wrote on Twitter that she was not against anyone and wants the system to change. "Stop all propaganda to bully me. I’m not against anyone. I just want system change, not climate change. I don’t expect anything from anyone except I want our leaders to listen my voice. I believe my rejection will help to listen my voice,: she added.
Later, Kangujam told the media that she made the decision as the leaders have failed to take the issue of climate change seriously. "The campaign is a great initiative. However, I don't think that it can do anything to reduce crimes against women and children. It is just like applying fairness cream that does not stay once you clean yourself," she said.