Homeless But With An iPhone: Indias Youngest Climate Activist Tweets About Living Conditions, Faces Backlash From Netizens

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The Logical Indian Crew

'Homeless But With An iPhone': India's Youngest Climate Activist Tweets About Living Conditions, Faces Backlash From Netizens

Speaking in response to a media report that labelled her as a scamster, Licypriya Kangujam posted a Twitter thread to clarify her living conditions and background. However, the tweet was received with backlash from the netizens.

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Licypriya Kangujam, India's youngest climate activist, who had recently gone viral for confronting the UK Minister of State for Energy, Climate and Environment at the COP27 summit, is on the receiving end of criticism by netizens. The activist and her father were put under the lens after a media report accused them of using climate change as a front for their scams.

Responding to the media reports, Licypriya posted a Twitter thread clarifying her living conditions and family background. Stating that she would "speak out on right time," Licypriya reached out to over one lakh followers of her. However, the post was not received well by many netizens, who were quick to point out contradictions in her statements.

'Just A Girl Who Cares For The Planet'

The 11-year-old activist has once again taken social media by storm, but this time it was not for her message on climate change. Opening up about her living conditions, Licypriya conveyed that she lives in a rented house in Delhi and was able to be educated solely due to a free merit scholarship she received until Grade 12. She then goes on to state that she comes from a humble background where her mother runs a small street vendor shop and does not have the luxury to afford even a proper bed.

Having represented India in over seven United Nations (UN) events, she says that travelling for her activism was possible as the expenses were borne by the organisations and institutions inviting her. Furthermore, she claims that all forms of remuneration and awards she had received were donated to "support children's education and victims of climate change." In the series of three tweets, she wrote that she has worked hard to contribute something to change the world, and the accusations made by the media are entirely "different from real life."


The thread concluded by saying, "I'm not a celebrity. I'm not a millionaire. I'm just a girl who love and care our planet. I will speak out at the right time," and within hours of being posted, it garnered over 11,000 likes and 950 retweets. The Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson, Swati Maliwal, commented "Proud of you @LicypriyaK." A few other users also commented that they hold Licy in great esteem and that it fills them with pride to see all she has done over the years for girls' education and the planet's welfare.

Other Side Of The Story

Upon opening Licy's thread of tweets, a common comment one would come across is the fact that the climate activist had tweeted from an iPhone while claiming that her family does not have a proper bed to sleep on. Following this criticism of Licy owning a smartphone, users pointed out multiple contradictions in the statements made by the activist.

A user also posted a snippet from an article by the Times of India titled "Is India's Greta Thunberg a pawn in the hands of an unscrupulous father?" The exclusive report built up multiple controversies and revealed another side of the story. One such grounds that the report exposed was the credibility of the awards Licy claimed to have received. On August 31, 2019, the child activist conveyed that she was a recipient of the "World Children Peace Prize 2019" handed over by Mr.Charles Allen, Director of Partnerships of Global Peace Index at the Institute of Economics & Peace (IEP). However, the media presented proof against the same with a Twitter exchange with the Institute for Economics and Peace, which clarified that they "do not issue awards." From thereon, it was revealed that most of Licy's awards from her initial days were given to her by her father's organisations and few others were clearly a sham.

Later on, they also exposed a crowdfunding appeal of Licy seeking one crore rupees to buy 100 oxygen concentrators as a scam after her father and legal guardian, Kangujam Karnajit, was arrested on May 31, 2021. Her father was detained on the charges of duping multiple people, self-help groups, and hotels of more than ₹19 lakh.


According to Wikipedia, since the news of her father's arrest, many of her crowdfunding movements were also put under scrutiny. Political activist Angellica Aribam then flagged the drive, a day after Paojel Chaoba of The Frontier Manipur broke a story that the donation drive by the child activist could be a possible scheme to defraud people by her father.

In the wake of such controversies, her Twitter post has come across as a double-edged sword, with netizens claiming that the young activist continues to sell lies. Moving past the trolls, a few users kindly conveyed that while they do not entirely agree with her ideas, they hope to see her do more great things for the nation and the environment.


Also Read: COP27: 11-Year-Old Indian Climate Activist Leaves UK Climate Minister Searching For Answer

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Writer : Laxmi Mohan Kumar
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Editor : Jayali Wavhal
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Creatives : Laxmi Mohan Kumar

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