Watch: ‘Go Back To Your Country? Malta Is My Country’ – Teenage Indian Activist Speaks Out
A 15-year-old Indian activist who has been living in Malta for most of her life has called out people who told her to “go back to her country” in response to a recent powerful speech about climate change.
“These comments really sadden me,” Rhythm Garg told Lovin Malta. “I wouldn’t even dream of writing something like that; what does writing something so racist say about you as a person?”
“Moreover, when you tell me to ‘go back’ to my country… this is my country. I see Malta as my country and my home. India is my country, but so is Malta. I think I am part of Malta and people have welcomed me as one of them.”
Rhythm said her family moved to Malta around ten years ago after receiving medical advice that she should live in a sunny place with clean air, as a result of her asthma and other health complications.
While in Malta, she learned the Maltese language and grew fascinated with its unique blend of Semitic and European elements.
“It’s a beautiful language,” she said.
However, in a special Parliament session organised by PN MP Eve Borg Bonello, she warned that the air is no longer as clean as it was when she moved here some ten years ago.
“As a girl who sees Malta as her home, I felt I had the duty and the responsibility to speak about this serious topic,” she said. “We can already see the consequences [of climate change] and I’m worried about my future, because if we continue down this path I don’t think its going to be a very good one.”
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