[Greenlist] Pls Join Us - Anti-GM protest in Delhi on May 6th 2008

[Bodi Satva]

  Dear Friends,
  
 
The anti-GM battle in India has reached a crucial stage - soon, Mahyco,
the Indian avataar of Monsanto, would be walking up to the regulators
for permission for the second [and last] year of large scale trials
this Kharif [starting June 2008] of Bt Brinjal, the first food crop in
India and the first such GM vegetable crop with Bt gene anywhere in the
world. 
  
  Elsewhere in the world, especially Europe, more
countries are clamping bans on GM crops. More regions are declaring
themselves GM-Free. In India, the central government is steamrollering
ahead, with its support to the biotech industry and showing its lack of
vision for Indian farming again and again. Certain state governments
are fortunately taking a long term, holistic view on genetic
engineering and are appreciating the environmental, human health,
political, economic and socio-cultural implications of such a
technology on Indian farming and society. However, the Union of India
is not upholding even this Constitutional right of state governments
and is blindly moving ahead with its approvals of various crop trials
and experiments.
  
  Bt Brinjal biosafety is questionable - in
fact, we should not forget that the results of genetic engineering
itself are very unpredictable and the very process of GE results in
different unintended hazardous consequences.  With Bt Cotton, the
experiences of farmers across the country, as recorded by official
sources too, range from newer and increased number of pests and
diseases to fatal impacts on livestock, effects on human health and
effects on soil with hardly any benefits as claimed by the industry.
The stress intolerance of crops like Bt Cotton has also been recorded
time and again. In this era of climate change, is this the technology
that we want to rest our food and nutrition security on?
  
 
The regulators sitting in Delhi have also proven themselves to be
unaccountable, unscientific, wedded to conflicting interests and
apathetic to the real experiences of farmers on the ground. If we
continue to keep silent, more of this undemocratic thrusting down of
unwanted, corporate technologies will continue to smother Indian
farming as well as all of us - after all, you and I will not have any
choices left if Bt Brinjal and other GM foods is allowed in. No systems
of labelling will let you know if you are consuming Bt Brinjal or not,
in this country.
  
  It is in this context that we invite all
right-thinking, pro-farmer, concerned citizens to assemble at Jantar
Mantar in New Delhi on MAY 6TH 2008, for a one-day dharna. If you want
the government to take our message seriously, you should be there to
show that you are against GM crops too. Please block the date, plan
your travel straightaway and bring as many people as you can to the
dharna site. Try to get signatures of people endorsing a NO GMOs
message on a long banner and we will join all the banners for display
during the dharna. Also carry signature petitions with as many
signatures as possible.
  
  Hope to see you in Delhi - remember, if we don't show our concern strongly now, it might be too late later on. Do join us.
  
  
  
  Kavitha Kuruganti
  
  For the 'Coalition for GM Free India'

  
-- 
Kavitha Kuruganti
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
12-13-445, Street # 1, Tarnaka
Secunderabad 500 017
www.csa-india.org; www.indiagminfo.org

Phone: +91-9393001550 


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and 
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.  http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ