Panaji: To highlight the grave injustice to non-human animals prevalent in society and the inseparable connection between human and non-human animal liberation, The Vegoan, a group of grassroots animal liberation activists in Goa, organised a video outreach on 17 December at the KTC Bus Terminus Panaji and Miramar Beach.
At the event which was in continuation to their 2-day campaign ‘Liberation For All’, volunteers played videos comprising undercover footage of industries that profit from animal exploitation, and how people’s lifestyle choices impact animals.
Activists also sat in cages to highlight the needless suffering that humans inflict on animals for frivolous wants.
The aim of the event was to spread awareness about speciesism, a prejudice that discriminates against non-human animals on the ethically irrelevant basis of species membership.
“Martin Luther King Jr. famously once said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’. We must shun speciesism, just like how we understand that racism, sexism, casteism, and other forms of discrimination against fellow humans is morally wrong,” said Gemini Xettigar of The Vegoan and organiser of the event.
The campaign was held against the backdrop of Goa’s Liberation Day celebrations annually celebrated on 19 December which commemorates freedom for Goans from the erstwhile Portuguese colonial regime.
The Vegoan’s 2-day campaign also consisted of the annual Goa Animal Liberation March from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Park to Azad Maidan that was held on Saturday, in which activists from various Indian cities participated.
Other awareness events held on Sunday included a wall painting at Dr. T. B. Cunha Road near Domino’s Pizza. Wall painting with messages and artwork of animal liberation are a powerful way to convey the message long after the activists have left the spot, the organisers said.
Talking about his personal transformation, co-organiser Daniel Thomas said, “I was raised non-vegetarian, but I turned vegan after recognising the completely unnecessary suffering that our choices inflict on helpless animals. Being vegan means ensuring, to the greatest extent practically possible, that animals are not exploited or otherwise harmed by our actions for any purpose. Apart from not eating meat, eggs, dairy products/milk and honey, being vegan also involves avoiding leather, wool, silk, fur, pearls, zoos, animal circus, animal-tested cosmetic products, etc.”
Trisha Bene, an activist of The Vegoan, said, “We recall Nelson Mandela’s quote, ‘For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.’ Atrocities like slavery were once so embedded in the collective consciousness that they were then thought to be eternal. But history has shown that positive change can be achieved even when the oppression seems deeply ingrained and pervasive,” and urged everyone to help eliminate the lifelong suffering that people’s choices inflict on trillions of animals.
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