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By Braj Mohan With genetically modified (GM) brinjal set to become the first GM food to enter the Indian market, a unique consumer awareness campaign seeks to raise public consciousness about the consequences of such a policy on public health
In many cities protests are becoming more vociferous as the demand for banning genetically modified Bt brinjal gets stronger. Agriculturists, food experts and concerned people have joined in a unique consumer awareness campaign called "I am no lab rat". Who needs Bt brinjal, the protesters are asking. "We do not. We don't want genetically modified brinjal on our dining table,” proclaims Chandigarh resident Uday Gupta. The campaign was launched by the Coalition for a GM Free India in October 2008. Its message is that human beings are not laboratory specimens to be experimented upon like rats. Since it began more than four months ago, thousands of protesters have written to Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or signed online petitions urging them to stop the cultivation and sale of Bt brinjal in the country. The website of the campaign (www.iamnolabrat.com) claims that Ramdoss publicly came out against GM foods in a statement he made in December 2008. The campaign has physically visited several cities roping in celebrities to espouse its cause. In Bangalore actress Ramya joined in while in Hyderabad environmentalist and actress Amala Akkineni signed up. In Chandigarh the brinjal was taken out in a procession and in Delhi actor Milind Soman dressed as a rat stood inside a cage. The rat-in-a-cage was a presence at many of the events. The humble brinjal, said to have originated in India, is in the middle of a raging controversy as it could be the first genetically modified food to be released into the Indian market. Others are in the pipeline - rice, tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, okra, potato, mustard, are moving towards commercial release in India. Bt brinjal has the same Cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) as cotton. The gene makes the plant tolerant to fruit and shoot borers, which target it throughout its life cycle. The loss in yield due to this is estimated to be Rs 900 crore every year in India. Campaigners and scientists are concerned about the health consequences of consuming genetically modified foods. Kheti Virasat, an NGO working against GM food, has demanded that Bt brinjal should not be released in India as data released by the French scientist Prof Giles Eric Seralini of the Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), France, shows it to be unsafe for human and animal consumption. Umendra Dutt of the Kheti Virasat, who advocates ecological farming in Punjab, said that in India we have always had an ecological alternative for pest management and there was no need for Bt brinjal in this country. "We will not allow contamination of soil and food. We want to preserve our food. We can't keep our eyes shut and continue to consume whatever is being served to us especially when we know the truth. This is a campaign by all concerned citizens, who are struggling to lead a healthier life," said Sandeep Kapoor of the Rashtriya Yuva Dal. "The government is trying to shift to modified foods which are even more dangerous than chemical foods because you can put a stop to consumption of chemical food at any time, but once you start growing genetically modified food, you can't stop its spread. It's a continuous process and plants become poisonous. They can be much more dangerous than chemicals in our food. In Europe it been proved that it is a harmful product. Almost the whole world is protesting against genetically modified foods. In India, Bt brinjal is the first food to be genetically modified and we are protesting against it," said D R Amar Singh Azad, who has been working in the cancer-affected Malwa region of Punjab. Genetically modified brinjal may enter the Indian market within a year. India is one of the six countries in the world where GM crops are grown. Bt brinjal is in the final stages of approval by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GAEC) that oversees approval. Government officials say that the GM crop won't be released without adequate safety checks. Campaigners, however, doubt whether the checks will be adequate. Kavita Kuruganti, member secretary of the Coalition for a GM Free India says that the independent analysis released by Prof Seralini must be taken into account. Prof Seralini is widely acknowledged in the field of GM food. He was member of two commissions for evaluating GMO. After his report, Bt corn was banned in France and later in other European countries. Prof Seralini's study was based on data released by Mahyco (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd, the seed partner of multinational agro-biotech major Monsanto Corporation). This data was kept under wraps and only made public after a protracted struggle and public interest litigation. The longest toxicity test has been carried out for only 90 days, not long enough to assess long-term effects like the development of tumours and cancers, says Kuruganti. Kuruganti alleges that the interpretation of results by Mahyco is not scientific. There are also serious concerns about an obsolete technology being dumped on India. Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, all countries in the European Union and many in Africa have either banned the entry of GM foods or have imposed strict restrictions on their commercial use. For more on GM foods see: http://infochangeindia.org/200902147609/Agriculture/
Features/Genetic-roulette.html http://infochangeindia.org/200806027159/Agriculture/
Analysis/India-silent-on-biosafety-negotiations.html http://infochangeindia.org/200807077208/Agriculture/
Features/Genetically-modified-crops-The-risk-factor.html (Braj Mohan is a Chandigarh-based television journalist covering agriculture and gender related issues for a decade. He was one of the recipients of the UNFPA award in 2007) InfoChange News & Features, February 2009
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