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Bt Brinjal talk triggers strong
protests all over India
WSN Network
 Chandigarh:
India is tying itself up in knots over a humble vegetable: Baingan,
the Eggplant. High-decibel anti-Bt brinjal protests took centrestage
at the national consultation sessions chaired by Union Environment
Minister Jairam Ramesh in Chandigarh on Friday and later in
Hyderabad where he was heckled badly by protesters.
In Chandigarh,
members of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch barged into the jam-packed Law
Bhawan hall on Panjab University campus, where the minister was
meeting farmers, NGOs, lawyers, doctors and scientists.
The minister has
faced similar protests over the issue of GM crops elsewhere in the
country.
Raising slogans
of “Monsanto go back” and “Ramesh go back”, the activists tried to
lay siege to the minister. Attempting to mollify them, Ramesh said,
“This is a wrong way of protest.”
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The
Punjab government does not seem to have any clear view on the
subject and even after all this noise all over the country and
media's piercing queries, it only responded in lame fashion,
saying that iyt will go by what the Centre decides. |
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Subhash Sharma,
an agriculture economist from
Amritsar
and a member of the Manch, said Bt brinjal would not bring
prosperity, but push farmers further into the debt-trap.
After much
effort, Ramesh was able to bring the protesters around but they
stuck vehemently to their stand against the genetically-modified
(GM) crop.
It seems the
authorities had not expected that Punjab, which has only 3,111
hectares under brinjal, would attract so many people with a view on
the GM crop. As the venue could not accommodate all of them, they
gatecrashed the hall, saying they did not want Ramesh to go back
without lending an ear to them.
Dr GPI Singh,
director-principal of Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and
Research, Bathinda, said, “Sixty-five diseases have been identified
which are linked to GM food. Other adverse affects would be visible
in coming generations. The only problem with the introduction of a
Bt crop is that it cannot be recalled.”
Saying that the
government should not launch the crop in a jiffy, Balkar Singh of
BKU (Ekta) asked Ramesh to conduct more trials as no
Punjab
farmer lives on brinjal production.
Giving a lowdown
on bio-safety aspect of the plant, consumer rights activist Dr Neera
Shiva said the government should conduct long-term studies on the
effects of Bt Brinjal.
Only 90 days’
trials have been conducted, and studies conducted by Mahyco have
incoherent inferences, she added.
S S Gosal,
Additional Director, Research,
PAU,
said it was not pesticides, but their indiscriminate use that has
wreaked havoc in
Punjab.
As for Punjab,
the government does not seem to have any clear view but after so
much noise all over the country and media's piercing queries, it
only had a lame response. "Any decision on Bt brinjal will be taken
by Punjab
only after its approval by the Centre," Financial Commissioner
Development (FCD) N S Kang said on Friday. Clearly,
Punjab does not
want to apply its own mind. Many other states have said no to Bt
brinjal.
According to the
state agriculture department, brinjal is grown on only 3,111
hectares, mainly in Amritsar and Jalandhar. “Its total production is
an insignificant part of Punjab’s horticultural produce. If allowed
by the Centre, companies wanting to sell Bt brinjal seeds would
apply for a licence to the state agriculture department. The
decision to grant the licence will depend on the state’s policy on
the issue, which will be determined at the highest level of the
government,” Director (Agriculture) B S Sidhu said. The state may
also ask
PAU to
conduct statewide trials before taking a call.ENS
The issue has
led to strong feelings and a group of scientists, academicians and
farmers even turned the Kolkata Book Fair last Saturday into an
occasion to protest the possible release of genetically modified
crop Bt Brinjal for commercial cultivation.
“The volunteers
from Green Peace, city-based green body Development Research
Communication and Services Centre (DRCSC) and the farmers of an
organisation called Seva participated in the fast,” Green Peace’s
sustainable agricultural campaigner R. Jaykrishna said.
The central
environment ministry is holding public consultations in various
Indian cities to decide if it will allow the commercial release.
Last October, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of the
government had cleared it.
But a member of
the committee, the very renowned molecular scientist Dr Pushpa
Bhargava has alleged that all necessary tests were not carried out
before the decision was taken.
3
February 2010
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