Tech | July 28, 2008 | 45 comments

India: Farmers, civil societies seek scrapping of GMO bill

source: http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-1401.html

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JanforGore
'The Coalition For GM-Free India', representing farmers' unions and civil society organisations today sought scrapping of the National Biotechnology Regulatory Bill-2008 pleading that 'its provisions are unscientific, undemocratic and amenable to reduce Indians as 'guinea pigs' for the promotion of Genetically Modified (GM) crops and GM foods.'

The Bill envisages setting up a National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority (NBRA) for ensuring a 'single widow' provision for speedy clearance of GM organisms and products. Such fast clearance mechanism is being put in place to facilitate the approval and propogation in India of GM organisms and products being developed by Monsanto and multinational companies, said a communique issued by the farmer leaders and experts from civil societies network after a-day-long deliberations here.

Being hurriedly pushed through, the Bill fixes a deadline for public feedback on July 30 to circumvent any worthwhile discussion organised in public domain by scientific community or arranged by the Department of Biotechnology (DGT), which has mooted the Bill, said Dr Devinder Sharma, a noted food and trade policy analyst.

''The proposed mechanism is an express clearing house for fast track approvals in favour of the biotech industry, at the expense of health and environment requisites,'' he added.

The NBRA proposals have been drawn up by the wrong people for the wrong reasons with the wrong perspectives, said Mr Yudhvir Singh, a leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union. And the proposed Authority , he said, ''Denies and violates constitutional rights of the states on their agriculture and citizens rights to remain GM-free.'' This also creates a hurdle to progressive decisions made by the states including Kerala on implementating organic farming policies to protect farmers interests and imposes GM crops everywhere, Mr Singh said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Firstly, I just want to state that in response to the thread I posted this past weekend regarding paid shills or others voting these threads down to hide them... if there are, you lose. I am not going to be intimidated to stop reporting on this important issue for our very survival. What is being done in India as well as around the world by these biotech companies regarding GM crops is a travesty of Democracy and morality. I will not leave this or any site, especially current.com that gives me the chance to have this information dessiminated to people to hopefully effect change. Vote it down if you wish, but the information and truth of it will remain the same as will my resolve to report this information regardless.

Monsanto is an evil company that is preying upon developing countries as well as our own to shove these GM seeds down the throats of farmers already living in poverty. They will continue to deny them their Democratic right to liberty and our right to proper disclosure all in the name of profit at the expense of our global environment. It is companies like Monsanto that are raising food prices in collusion with the World Bank and WTO to push these seeds as well as privitizing water supplies, and it is companies like Monsanto that must be fought by informed consumers.

We have the right to know what is in our food, where our water comes from, and the right to say NO to any attempt to force these fake toxic foods upon us. If there is any way I and others here can effect that change, then I am going to continue to do it.

Thanks to all who responded in the other thread and also to the staff who explained the situation. Hopefully we will see a resolution. Current has a chance to be a true vanguard network for the people. I am grateful to have the chance to be a part of that.
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45 comments // India: Farmers, civil societies seek scrapping of GMO bill

  • prmadhura
  • mario_a
    • 0
      mario_a  
    • Image

    • The explanation has arrived. I'm sorry this took so long to get out, but as you can see by the post, it is a pretty hefty chunk of information.

      Please head over the blog link (above) and read both parts. Then let me know what you think.

      Mario
      Online Community Team

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • mario_a
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • I like the old fashioned way of manipulating genetics, by encouraging traits through selective breeding. That just seems more natural and safer, your not just ramming DNA down a plants throat and hoping that it will take.

      That video that talks about the process of exactly how they graft the genetics into the plant cells and seeds makes it sound like a crap shoot, plus the process introduces all sorts of nasty other side effects. The activating enzymes used could turn on unwanted cell processes that could create disease in the person or animal who ingests the genetically modified organisms.

      The other thing that completely grossed me out about but was very revealing is the tests they did using colostomy bags on healthy test subjects to have them eat GMOs and see just exactly how much of the DNA was destroyed. Monsanto has been claiming that it all gets destroyed in the stomach but the truth is more like 20 to 30 % of the DNA gets destroyed. This is very alarming, because it means there is a lot of DNA present that can be absorbed by the human body, and the DNA and the enzymes would likely trigger reactions in the body.

    • 4 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • In Ecuador there are giant avocados that grow naturally in the jungle areas. I have eaten them and picked them personally when I was a kid. They were as big as an adults head.

      They also had giant Papayas and other giant exotic and semi exotic fruits and melons.

      I think it has to do with the rich volcanic and tropical rainforest's environment that the plants had.

    • 4 years ago
  • jjmaster
  • jjmaster
    • 0
      jjmaster  

    • Have any of you ever grown an avocado plant? They are so nice to have in the home... Well, I've got about 10 seeds that I have been trying to get started, and they will not sprout... In my younger years, it would only take about 7-10 days to get some roots going... It has been weeks now and nothing... I can only assume that they have been genetically modified... Do you get it now? This is so sad.

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Yes, they are thugs to me. Simple as that. And the funny thing is, they reportedly don't even eat GM food in their cafeterias... very telling. But I will state this: reading how much of this world is against their poison gives me some hope that humanity is not lost in the world. What boggles my mind is that this stuff is out in our marketplace without the proper scientific testing being disclosed. And from my reading I do suspect that the current epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes in this country may be related to GMOS and other chemicals in food. I haven't been able to find anything on it yet on the Internet, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Of course, if that were true we already know it would be hidden. From PCBs to Agent Orange, to Aspartame, to GMOs, Monsanto has done nothing but make a profit off misery and defiling this planet. And it's time to stand up to it.

    • 4 years ago
  • jjmaster
    • 0
      jjmaster  
    • JanforGore:

      Jan, I've been thinking so much about this... I would like to propose that we create "A day of the signs." People from current can get involved in their area... We can coordinate it here on current, and take it to the streets in grassroot protest form uniformally! I'm sure some local media groups will pick up on the story... and more and more people will be informed and stand up...We could even pass out a website address for people to sign a petition... submit it to our reps, and food stores! A little effort goes a long way... What do you think?

    • 4 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • JanforGore:

      jjmaster, what a great idea. We could video tape our sign carrying protests and assemble all the footage together into a pod for Current. We would need to come up with some slogans and a clear concise message, one sentence or phrase.

      If it can have some sort of music or chant to accompany it even better.

      I like the enthusiasm of your ideas.

    • 4 years ago
  • jjmaster
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • JanforGore:

      The petition sounds good, and also the signs. And the petitions could be sent to your state legislatures because that is where Monsanto is now concentrating their efforts and need to be pushed back. I am going to do a little pod about GMOs as soon as I get it all together and will post it here. Perhaps we could coordinate one day where we all do one of our own and post them on the same day... I'll be in touch about it.

    • 4 years ago
  • jjmaster
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • The Brazilians had to authorize post facto the use of GMOs because Monsanto invaded their country illegally with their seeds to such an extent that the European union uncovered the fact that their soybean products were testing positive for GMOs.

      I saw this on a documentary about GMOs in Spanish with a reporter asking the Minister of Agriculture of Brazil, how did it happen that the soy crop got contaminated with GMOs when there were strict laws in the country against genetically modified organisms already in place in the country.

      The Minister replied that they had no choice but to authorize the use because of the reporting requirements in Europe. The report said that as soon as the government authorized the use of the GMOs then Monsanto moved in immediately with a legal team to begin collecting royalties from the farmers.

      This is so sick and sinister what Monsanto is doing that I pray daily that one of their lab experiments goes awry and all their high level staff get sick and die from their own bad medicine. That would be Karmic Justice.

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • Thank you Jubal, and others are fighting back. Dr. Vandana Shiva has started the organization Navdanya that hands out organic seeds to farmers in India.

    • 4 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • Jan, I really like your new Icon, and second this is a great story. I hope the Indian Farmers are successful in giving Monsanto the boot.

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Oh, there is no question it is a news item... it is just a "threatening" news item to certain interests that seem to hold more sway than even I thought they did. This should be on every TV station but alas, as usual the truth gets hushed while the propaganda gets spun.

    • 4 years ago
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  

    • The letter also talks about how this Green Revolution Plan, (that name is just wrong), will lease the farmers land and use it up, and then give it back (@4yrs later) to the farmer who then is left with waste barren land, and no way to support his family. Monsanto knows that their products (pesticides/poisons) eventually kill off the land. They know also, these farmers get drawn into the hype of the slick talking sales folks with Monsanto, offering a promising future. In addition, not knowing until it is too late, that they have been had.

      And over here in USA, we cannot even find out if the foods we buy in the market are GMO or not, the labels are off limits.

      And this information is questionable as a news item? I really don't get that......

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • I agree. To so many this is all so far away... but it really isn't. And it is also the moral undertones to all of this that rock me to my core. The immensity of not only the environmental damage but the damage to the hearts and minds of so many people is to me a crime beyond comprehension. And yet, people continue to vote it down and go about their business as if business is all there is to this life... that humanity comes second. This is really one more moral challenge being presented to us.... will the dollar once again be more precious than life itself?

    • 4 years ago
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  

    • The letter above is certainly worth reading....One of the paragraphs that jumped out at me....

      "Mr Prime Minister, farmer suicides is not a collatoral damage. It is a ghastly crime for which the nation must take a collective responsbility. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has himself accepted that over 100,000 farmers have committed suicide in the period 1993-2003. Isn't it strange that if a bridge collapse in the cities kills a few people the
      engineers are held accountable? If a patient dies in the hospital from doctors negligence, we hold the doctor responsible But when over 100,000 farmers die, we do nothing but to apologise!"

      my comment:

      As I read this letter, this thought came to me; how easy it is for us to de-personalize this type of information. This is so far removed from the comfortable lives most of us here in the US live. I mean, "over 100,000 farmers" have committed suicide, because of issues related to loosing the sustainability of their land/farm/food/income/security/and last their reason to live. Easy for us to tuck that away into the pigeon hole of "someone else" problem.

      Just as the letter stated; accountability....? If a corporation can justify this type of "side effect" and mow through community after community, country after country, and all it can say is " we cannot afford to lose one dollar in profit??" Is that who you want to control our food? I don't...

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • Letter from the Food and Trade Policy Analyst to the Prime Minister regarding GM seeds. This is dated almost two years ago, and still all we see are biotechs trying to shove this technology down the throats of people who do not want it. This letter is about farmer suicides and I recommend reading it. This is not only about GM foods, this is about health, environment, and Democracy, which it seems Monsanto and other companies have no concept of.

      And India is only one place this is being done. Countries in South America, China, and the US, as well as Germany now have these fake seeds and these companies are not giving up in pushing the EU to accept them as well. Pushing a food crisis also fits right into their plans to panic countries into taking them.The only prize they have their eyes on is profit.

    • 4 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • JanforGore:

      Didn't you do a story and link to a youtube video about how Monsanto was able to invade Brazil illegally with their GMOs even though Brazil had laws against GMOs?

      Have you heard about that Jan?

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • JanforGore:

      Hmmm, possible. I posted so much i can't keep track.
      ;-). If it wasn't me it was someone else here. I'll have to look, but yes, I have heard about that. The same MO they use everywhere. Hopefully more are catching on to it.

    • 4 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • JanforGore:

      Well if they do catch them "red handed" then they should punish them by disallowing them to collect royalties. That should hurt them where it counts the most; in the pocket book.

    • 4 years ago
  • JackHerer
  • jjmaster
    • 0
      jjmaster  
    • JackHerer:

      Jack, good post. And think more please about Monsanto getting control of the seed that you love so much, and altering it, so that when you harvest your crop, and save your seeds to plant your next crop you suddenly learn that they will not reproduce, and the only way that you may grow it again, is if you purchase the seed from Monsanto at whatever price they dictate... and the seed is not even very good! Get on board with us against this seed piracy, please! Become active in educating others about this evil agenda of Monsantoism.

    • 4 years ago
  • rabidlemur
    • 0
      rabidlemur  

    • GM crops are killing us and the best way to fight them is to support local farmers, at my farmers market in Port Townsend Washington I can buy vegetables for the same price and sometimes cheaper then in stores and the more we support them the lower the cost will be of course.

      by the way I found out that Kale makes an awesome substitute for lettuce in soft tacos, try it :P

    • 4 years ago
  • onepeacefullight
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • Government Against GM Seed Trials: Minister

      Thiruvananthapuram: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran has reiterated the State government stand against field trials of genetically modified seeds.

      Addressing the “National Summit on GM Crops,” organised by the Sastra Vedi, an arm of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, here on Saturday, Mr. Ratnakaran said the decision not to allow field trials would protect Kerala’s spices which had a large market in European countries that were opposed to GM crops and food.

      The situation was serious enough for India to declare the basmati growing tracts of Western India as GM free zone, he said. Besides, M.S. Swaminathan Committee report had opposed GM trials in biodiversity hotspots of the Western Ghats and the Himalayas.

      The State Government stand was that the trials should not be conducted when the entire world was debating the pros and cons of GM crops and food. Even in the U.S., which had adopted GM crops in a large scale, the debate was going on with farmers, academics and environmentalists opposing huge multinationals such as Monsanto. Environmentalists had opposed GM crops on the ground that it was against nature.

      Out of the 147 countries that participated in the recent U.N. bio safety conference in Bonn, 146 had opposed GM crops. The U.S. was the only supporter of GM crops, Mr. Ratnakaran said.
      ~~~~~~~
      The US was the only supporter of GM crops... gee, I wonder why?

    • 4 years ago
  • Hiway
  • JanforGore
  • mario_a
  • JanforGore
  • Marilynn_Murray
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • Monsanto's New Front Group
      And they will now place ads and lobby for their fake food just like the coal industry for "clean coal" and EXXON and other oil companies that tell us they are "environmentally aware." BS.

      There is one way we can all hopefully effect some change however. We can all write our state legislatures and demand they not buckle into Monsanto's attempts to override Democracy by using their political clout to sue farmers who place labels on their products stating their milk does not have bovine growth hormone in it. Monsanto knows that people who see those labels will buy that milk as opposed to other milks that display nothing on them. They want to keep Americans from their democratic right to full disclosure for what they are purchasing. State legislatures must be made aware that the people will not stand for it. My letter is going out at the end of this week.

    • 4 years ago
  • onechance
    • 0
      onechance  

    • Awesome. If the Governments of the world are too corrupt to do the right thing, the people will demand it. I was the US was more capable and less complacent as a whole. As long as we can have our latte...

    • 4 years ago
  • jjmaster
  • queenofit
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • queenofit:

      Another thing Queenofit is that the more and more stories that get onto the front page means that people are at least looking at the headline. I also found Jan's idea of making the stories be a little more sexy or silly might pull more people in.

      I am excited, because her decision has given me thought to remain also. I have been giving thought about leaving for a while, but I do love it too very much.

    • 4 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Yes, and this is very heartening to see... people fighting back for Democracy and morality. And thank you for your comments. I realized I can't leave here, I love it too much. ;-)

    • 4 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • JanforGore:

      Jan, I didn't know you were seriously planning on leaving.

      There is a wise old saying "if you have a light to shine, why hide it under a basket?"

      I am glad that you are going to let your light shine as bright as ever. Kudos to you.

    • 4 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  

    • You go, girl! I'm happy to see that we managed to change your mind. :)

      Kerala, although one of the poorest provinces of India, has the highest level of literacy of all India, so I am not surprised that such an initiative arose in Kerala.

    • 4 years ago
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