Back in 2018, I happened to pick a book by Amitav Ghosh. The review of- Gun Island attracted me in such a way that the temptation landed me at Mandala Book Point, Jamal, Kathmandu. I got instantly dragged into all the chapters of the book that is set in the Sundarbans, a dense Mangrove forest of the world. History, geography, climate change and impacts of migration, all have been well juxtaposed beautifully, leaving the message that the world has been going through numerous problems particularly due to climate change.
The aura of Gun Island left an indelible mark on me and nudged me into exploring his other works like The Antique Land, Sea of Puppies, The Great Derangement and, finally, The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis.
The onset of industrialisation bolstered Europe's economic activities, which impelled them to look for natural resources beyond their shores. This policy of extracting natural resources in Asia, Africa and Latin America by the imperialists is the root cause behind the climate crisis we are facing today.
The Nutmeg's Curse reveals how the indigenous people across the world were brutally attacked by the European invaders to extract natural resources.
The Nutmeg's Curse, published in 2021, is devoted to exposing the realities behind the climate crisis that the world has been facing.
One of the serious arguments Ghosh makes in the book is that the imperial rulers from the 16th century onwards started extracting natural resources by evacuating humans out of their settlements by signing treaties with them and later by using force to have a monopoly over the area that consisted of valuable resources. He further argues that nutmegs found in the Banda Island of Java, Indonesia, were transported to Europe for medicinal purposes as the doctors in Elizabethan England, who were struggling to treat diseases like the plague and epidemics, knew that nutmegs and other spices could be used to treat them.
According to Ghosh, the Portuguese, Spanish and then the Dutch continuously imposed their monopoly on the island starting in 1621. Knowing the intention of the Europeans behind the extraction of valuables from their land, the islanders tried their level best to fight against them with the little arms they had, but to no avail.
Even though each of these countries tried to destroy the Banda Island with the hope of accumulating the valuable resources, the Dutch proved themselves to be the most aggressive at destroying the settlements of the islanders than the other colonisers.
How brutal the Dutch were can be gleaned from the message that Coen, the Dutch team leader, had sent to his superior in the Netherlands. The message read: 'It would be best in my opinion to completely chase all the Bandanese from the land with the help of Japanese mercenaries seemed to be master in decimation and decapitation.' Ghosh throughout his book explains why the world has been facing the devastating effects of climate crisis, bringing forth many anecdotes that took place in the distant past with their impacts unfolding at present. He argues that Europeans tried to impose their supremacy militarily in the area they thought had immense possibility of natural resources. Not only had they invaded the area militarily but had also ruled over the psyche of the people academically by writing books that would reveal their colonial mindset.
He cites the book Lord of the Flies, written by William Goldings, in which six teenage boys stranded on a desert island for fifteen months had built infrastructures like a badminton court, gymnasium with curious weights and a small commune with a food garden instead of living with nature. Ghosh makes the point that the academic books that deal with accommodating oneself by limiting the value of nature got emphasised by academicians than reverting oneself with the tune of nature, and are thus taught in schools of the West even today.
The Amazon forest that produces20 percent of the world's oxygen has millions of indigenous people residing there. Its protection would have been impossible had the Brazilian constitution, promulgated in 1988, not guaranteed the duties and rights of the indigenous people. By making the indigenous people the saviours of the rain forest, it has reduced deforestation by more than 80 percent, while helping to maintain the environment that is conducive for both animals and humans, even though the wildfires at times become an issue of discussion. Ghosh, citing Davi Kopenawa, a tribal leader of the Amazon basin, states that Cristian missionaries drove the tribal groups out of the forest, saying they were 'evil'.
The impacts of climate change have resulted in multiple layers of sufferings, even termed as genocide by some experts. The millions of refugees who risk their lives in the Mediterranean in the hope of finding refuge in the destined countries have escalated the migration problem, requiring an urgent solution. Ghosh says the Western world still has the mindset of invading countries to impose their supremacy, as in the case of Afghanistan and Iraq by the US.
While focussing on the colonial mindset behind the crisis, he also questions if the Europeans are solely to blame for the climate crisis unfolding rapidly.
What about India and China, the emerging economic powers of the world, and their roles in downsizing the impacts of it? For instance, Indian farmers burn millions of tons of stubble every year after harvesting, leading to intense air pollution from smoke, with large amounts of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.
The pollution even forces many schools in Indian cities to close for days besides causing health problems among its citizens.
The elimination of problems prevailing in the society requires collaborative approach from each rung of the society.
The Amazon's protection would have been impossible had the Brazilian constitution, promulgated in 1988, not guaranteed the duties and rights of the indigenous people.
Making them the saviours of the rain forest has reduced deforestation by more than 80 percent, while helping to maintain the environment that is conducive for both animals and humans
A version of this article appears in the print on January 21, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.