The Tragedy Of Tokenism

Taking a closer look at the symbolism of certain Special Days, and the ironic nature of their inherent inadequacies.

- Dr. Asad R. Rahmani

I write this article on World Environment Day – the most important conservation ritual that the world has adopted to get rid of our environmental recklessness, even if it is only for a day. The World Environment Day started after the first United Nations International Conference on Human Environment held from June 5-16, 1972 in Stockholm. Twenty years later, the second and much larger Rio Conference was held, which gave us the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22, 1992. It has an interesting history that displays how the world is dominated by Western thoughts, interest and symbolism even on environmental and conservation issues. Wikipedia tells us that from 1993 to 2000, World Biodiversity Day was held on December 29 – the day the Convention on Biological Diversity was effected. However, for the Western world, it was inconvenient as the ‘Day’ fell during a long holiday period. How can we think of our poor fellow creatures when we are in the middle of active consumerism and profligacy! So, it was shifted to May 22. Summer is a good time. Taking out a symbolic march for biodiversity conservation on a warm sunny day helps in adding glamour, suntan and Vitamin-D to the body!