Petition against Bt Brinjal release in India.

[Guest guest]

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Kndly endorse this mail by including your name & organisdation and sending it to the email addressr <manmohan;<pmosb , with a copy to Ms Sonia Gandhi at <10janpath; and <soniagandhi; . and to Jairam Ramesh at <jairam;The Bt Brinjal is just one stop away from final approval and there is no time to loose.

 

Please Cooperate

 

Regards,

Jagannath.

 

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To:

 

Dr Manmohan Singh,

Prime Minister of India.

 

 

Dear Dr Manmohan Singh,

 

Sub: BT BRINJAL CLEARANCE BY REGULATORS TO BE WITHDRAWN IMMEDIATELY

 

While we realize that Climate Change negotiations would be taking up the attention of the Government of India at this point of time, another equally important and urgent issue, that of Genetically Modified (GM) foods, cannot be ignored in the context of Indian regulators clearing Bt Brinjal for commercial cultivation, the first ever such GM vegetable in the world. This Bt Brinjal was recommended by an Expert Committee and further cleared by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) on October 14th 2009.

 

1. There is damning evidence by now of how the Expert Committee on Bt Brinjal (EC2) has conveniently deviated from the mandate given to it to assess the safety of Bt Brinjal and how it has worked under the influence of political pressure and vested interests. The Chair of the EC2 had confessed to have been under “tremendous pressure from the Agriculture Minister, the GEAC and the industry†to approve Bt Brinjal and does not deny this in an interview to a national TV channel. Further, without any apparent processes run, the Terms of Reference of the Expert Committee were

changed in favour of the commercial interests of Mahyco, the Indian partner of Monsanto.

 

2. There is a serious question mark on several members of the EC2 and their presence in this body which recommended Bt Brinjal. It is completely objectionable that such a Committee was set up to conclude on a very important aspect of our lives: that of the safety of a new food that we are all going to consume! A separate report is being sent to the PMO on this. This leads us to one obvious conclusion: that this Committee was rigged and designed for only one outcome – that of approving Bt Brinjal, come what may.

 

3. Most damning of them all – the Chair of the EC2 admits in a media interview again that several tests on Bt Brinjal were not done and “without them, at this stage, we do not know whether Bt Brinjal is safe or notâ€. The Chairperson also says that “Genetically Engineered food products will not be equal to the non-genetically engineered food products. That's for sure. Now, how much damage, we do not know at this stage"! This is a

very serious admission indeed and the many voices of concerned citizens, scientists and activists are vindicated with this. These views of the EC2 Chair not getting reflected in the report of this Committee shows yet again that pressure and vested interests were driving the EC2 report.

 

4. It is also very obvious that the Government of India is actively allowing the interference of American agencies in the regulatory regime of India in the form of at least two projects called Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II and South Asia Biosafety Program. The whole world knows by now how desperate the Americans are to sell GM seeds, food and feed to the world, having walked into it themselves in the

mid-1990s and after facing overwhelming rejection by aware citizens in a majority of countries. The EC2 report and its recommendation is a classic example of the “systemic rigging†that the American government is indulging in, in the internal regulatory affairs of India, with the permission of the Indian government and this is simply unacceptable. To allow American interests to supercede the interests of common citizens of India is shameless on the part of the Indian government.

 

5. Even as this letter is being sent, more reports are pouring in from states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh about the problems that Bt Cotton is causing to the farms, farm families and livelihoods there. It is shocking that the Indian government to this day did not investigate the various reports emerging from the ground pointing to soil, animal and human health impacts with Bt Cotton but has decided to walk towards a GM food crop despite all the

evidence.

 

6. There is no liability, redressal and remediation regime in place to this day with regard to GM crops and foods. We would like to know who is to be liable for all of negative outcomes that are in store, when the steamrollering on this front is happening despite opposition from many state governments and despite the fact that Agriculture is a state subject as per the Indian Constitution.

 

7. The PMO is known to have sent out some communication in the recent past which quotes extensively from industry sources, to the complete exclusion of overwhelming evidence to the contrary with regard to the need, safety and benefits of GM crops. Does the infiltration of such industry outfits as ISAAA indicate that the PMO has also come under pressure and that democratic, scientific voices against GM foods are to be ignored?

 

8. Faulty analytical frameworks, which ignore the potential of alternatives to technologies like Bt Brinjal also put a question in our minds on whether this government is indeed on the side of people or profit-hungry corporations. The rationale of arguing that we cannot ignore biotechnology for increasing food production is completely unscientific and faulty too. Bt Brinjal cannot be a solution for the starving and hungry millions of this country and such fallacious arguments will be seen through by

citizens of this country. It is unacceptable that Bt Brinjal be equated with all GM crops and decision-making be driven by such a framework. Further, biotechnology does not consist of transgenics alone and is a vast subject. This excessive emphasis on transgenic technology points either to a lack of scientific abilities in India to explore other safer technologies or points to a nexus with industry bodies like Monsanto which are relying only on this technology for filling up their coffers. It should also be remembered that alternatives that are viable, sustainable and affordable exist and there is no lack of scientific proof of that. The GM crop option being chosen, in the face of availability of such alternative technologies, makes us question the medium and long term vision for development that the UPA government holds.

 

It is time that the government credibly showed where it stands on this issue – towards the side of ordinary citizens and their sustainable development or towards the side of corporations and unsafe/unneeded science.

 

We call upon the Government of India to demonstrate its pro-people sustainable development vision by immediately withdrawing the report of the EC2 and rejecting Bt Brinjal in India.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

Cc: (1) Smt Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, UPA; (2) Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Environment & Forests

Western or allopathic medicine is always saying they have to have proof, double-blind studies, and yet, has your pediatrician ever shown you proof that vaccinations work? - Pat Mckay

 

 

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