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Indian law would make criticizing GM crops an imprisonable offense

Submitted by on March 2, 2010 – 1:11 am27 Comments

Criticising Genetically Modified (GM) products could land you in jail — if the draconian draft Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill (BRAB) of 2009, which will be tabled in the current session of the parliament by the UPA government, is passed.

In an unprecedented muzzle on the right to freedom of speech of the citizen, Chapter 13 section 63 of the draft bill says, “Whoever, without any evidence or scientific record misleads the public about the safety of the organisms and products…shall be punished with imprisonment for a term that shall not be less than six months but which may extend to one year and with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees or with both.” The BRAI Bill drafted by the department of bio-technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology comes on the heels of a moratorium on Bt Brinjal announced by the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

“What they are doing is much worse than what Hitler or Mussolini did. Through this bill, they want to take absolute authority. They are behaving like a vendor instead of a regulator,” Pushpa M Bhargava, a member of the Supreme Court appointed Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) said.

There are also other provisions in this bill which are disconcerting.

Article 27 (1) of the bill seeks to keep the information related to the research, approval and science of the GM Products out of the purview of the Right to Information ( RTI) Act.

In other words, farmers, NGO’s and Environmental groups that have been on the forefront of the campaign against BT Brinjal and other genetically modified crops, can longer obtain information about it.

Not only that, the three member experts of the Department of Biotechnology will override any existing legislation about GM technology in the states.

The draft bill also states that the BRAI will set up its own appellate tribunal which will have the jurisdiction to hear arguments on the issues concerning biotechnology. In case of any disputes, petitioners can only approach the Supreme Court of India.

“The BRAI bill is more draconian than what the nation faced during the Emergency ‘’ says Devinder Sharma, writer and Food Policy Analyst. “If the Bill was already in force, I would have been in jail.

Jairam Ramesh too would have been in jail for challenging the health and environmental claims of the company developing Bt Brinjal,” he said. The bill demonstrates the extraordinary hold the multinational companies have over the UPA government, he added. Kavitha Kurugunti of Kheti Virasat Mission said that this bill is just a way to silence the voices who are opposed to GM technology.

http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/indian-law-would-make-criticizing-gm-crops-

an-imprisonable-offense/

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27 Comments »

  • Shirley W. Prouty says:

    We need to fight this – just more world government.

  • Philip Beyuer Wood says:

    It starts in India and spreads to the rest of the world. Monsanto and its cohorts are the criminals. They are profiting from poison and now are attempting to emulate Jim Jones by forcing their poison on everyone while exempting themselves. The corporations left unchecked will devour the planet. Their greed is only surpassed by their ignorance.

  • Bernard from Michigan says:

    Mr. PB Wood is absolutley right. I would take it a step further though and say that this cannot be stopped. The Corporations are merely systems of control which have no ledership. They are not people. The people who put them in place had no idea of the catasrophe they were unleashing.

    Our option is not in trying to stop the onslaught but to digger into the Holy Bible for the truth of Prophecies.

    Many will see me in the light of the world as a religious fanatic or obsessed with conspiracy theories and all I can say is “This is not True” but it is what it is and many will fall away from truth because truth hurts to much for most.

  • KJ McElrath says:

    And so the Korporate cancer spreads around the world…and cancer invariably kills its host.

    But I guess that’s what Phil was saying, eh…?

    The question now is, do we:

    - accept it and wait for death?
    - apply radical surgery? (Make of that metaphor

  • KJ McElrath says:

    And so the Korporate cancer spreads around the world…and cancer invariably kills its host.

    But I guess that’s what Phil was saying, eh…?

    The question now is, do we:

    - accept it and wait for death?
    - apply radical surgery?
    - apply chemo or radiation treatments?

    Make of those last two metaphors what you will…

  • Randolph says:

    The multi-national corporations like Monsanto think they can make India their playtoy because they have an economic stranglehold on the country and its statesman. Wait. That sounds like the US.

  • Steve says:

    Bernard, it cannot be stopped if there is no will to stop it. If the will is there, a way will be found. Don’t be a fatalist and NEVER accept the intended wrongdoings of others as inevitable, that would be a terrible sin of omission.

    Here is an example of someone who decided a few years ago he had to do something, and now he is LEADING the global fight against GMOs with two bestsellers and lots of meetings with those who can make a difference, and changing their minds:

    http://www.responsibletechnology.org

    So stand up and act! Lead your own army, or follow his lead, but never NEVER accept anything wrong as inevitable.

  • Andrea Costello says:

    This is insane. We need to protect the foods God gave us, not destroy them and make inferior and dangerous laboratory combinations that will weaken and eventually kill us.

    Such a law is horrendously barbaric!!!! Next will they behead us, put us in concentration camps, burn us at the stakes, tar and feather us, etc. if we criticize their policies? What happened to freedom of speach?

    In India with such a large population including many illiterates, the law will be hard to enforce. Literally people will be sent to jail and not even know why – just commenting on their meager dinner that no longer satisfies!

    These companies have gone too far. They are going against God, nature and every decent legal document and human right that has been fought for and won.

  • Sharon Donohue says:

    It does sound like the US. However, lying back and waiting for God to do something about it won’t work. We were given free choice as well as the directive, the responsibility of taking care of the garden (planet). Many letters or emails to the principals involved and better yet, a huge march; hit the streets, big banners! In the US, we are not good about hitting the streets, so look to South America for role models on that score. In the US, we do write (deluge) emails and letters and phone calls, and have beaten back the monsters fairly often. Unfortunately, they never give up. Those in public office who are pushing this should not be allowed to remain in office (in any country).

  • Leeanne says:

    Is there a petition we can sign or something? How does one send this information off to The Petition Site or Care2 Causes? I will look into that and post back here with a link.

  • William T says:

    Make of it what you will, but the driving force behind evil is evil- whatever you want to call him, he has been at work here since he fell from Heaven. He uses deception as his tool. Don’t give up- keep praying for the victims, as well as a way to fight the battle- and remember, the believers know the biggest battle is for the souls of the lost.

  • Vicki says:

    The International Corporations are designed up to make a profit no matter what the cost. So they can market their GMO seeds which have known adverse health effects, they have to muzzle scientists and others, forbid open inquiry and make it impossible to get information. If there was really nothing wrong with GMO seeds and crops and using them as food, none of these draconian methods would be necessary. The problem is, these corporations operate outside of national borders and have great influence over the governments of many countries in the form of bribes and powerful lobbyists. If the governments follow the wishes of these corporations, the citizens of each country with weak or corrupt leaders are sold down the river instead of their leaders representing the wishes of the citizens. As long as citizens tolerate leaders like this over them, this trend will continue.

  • L says:

    Froward investors have built these giants that now look to control the worlds food supply with hybrid seeds. If the earth becomes sterile, many may perish of starvation.

  • kathryn simova says:

    Poor Indian farmers generally do not have the wherewithal to “approach the Supreme Court of India”anyway. It is already known that the GM crops that have been forced on them fail. They were not informed that the irrigation requirement was much higher than for non-GM crops. That fact, combined with natural drought created disaster. Also, there are a high number of horrendous suicides by these farmers as a result. Do you think Monsanto gives a shit? They are most likely rubbing their bloody hands in glee, for contributing to the ultimate new world order goal of de-population.

  • D says:

    Hybrid seeds are vital, all farming makes use of traditionally bred hybrids, hybrid vigour makes higher yielding crops.

    Biotechnology will undoubtedly be vital as the population reaches 9.2billion by 2075.

    This shouldn’t affect free speech though, and if that were true it would be disgusting. The law actually makes libel against GM a crime, if the concern is based in fact then no crime would be committed.

  • Curtis says:

    It can be stopped if the brain dead public could wake up and take a stand!!!People in numbers can stop abuse

  • Maven says:

    Traditionally bred hybrid seeds have not been linked to Morgellon’s Syndrome,

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgellons

    traditionally hybridized seed crops do not kill bees and butterflies and other pollinators.

    http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=+author:%22Latsch%22+intitle:%22Are+GM+Crops+Killing+Bees%3F%22&oi=scholarr

    Traditionally hybridized seeds have not had their health trials suppressed.

    http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Monsanto_and_the_Roundup_Ready_Controversy

    There’s a difference between Liable Law and a Gag Order. There are already laws in place for addressing cases of Liable, and Monsanto and other GM producers have not been shy of using them. Why do they need more draconian laws if they truly are producing a wholesome, superior product???

  • Biogenic / GM foods is anathema to the way life IS supposed to be intended to be lived. As with most modern inventions, peoples divine consciousness being cast into such pseudo-sciences as to manipulate nature. Nature my friends, is patient, but WILL back-lash (as we’re seeing with the increase in Earthquake activities). It is only a matter of time. ALSO, the “conquering” of nature is /should be that each individual practice some form of Self Mastery to CONTROL THEIR OWN ANIMAL-NATURE, AND STOP FORNICATING, AND REPRODUCING FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR OWN INEPT ABILITY TO LOVE THEIR VERY SELF (instead of passing along their STUPID-ity by creating more (and more inept) versions of their own asleepness, and negligent brain activities.) THE BIGGEST PROBLEM FACING THIS PLANET IS OVERPOPULATION OF STUPID, IGNORANT, PEOPLE. And, that cannot be regulated so each and everyone’s responsibility is to WAKE UP and DEAL with their multifaceted Self. And so it goes……………

  • Hybrid seeds are not vital. They are the beginning of the end of life on Earth, you so called “intellectual”. When are you misguided ‘experts’ going to wake up to the higher Universal Order of things.

  • Mia says:

    Responding to Curtis on 5/5: The entire public is not brain dead – some of us are simply exhausted from diverting huge chunks of our everyday lives to taking stands. Constantly writing letters of protest, standing in protest lines, attending public “debates” on controversial subjects, etc. – after 25 years, one becomes exhausted. With the total time – years – I devoted to taking stands, I could have earned my Masters and PhD. I have turned into one of those who feels the sad end is inevitable.

  • TJ says:

    One of the best ways to change this corporation take over is to vote for those running for office. Vote for governors to change the course. Don’t vote out of vengeance for the other party. Use the intelligence of our heart AND mind. Choose wisely.

  • It is important what kind of food we are allowed to eat. It is equally important, or perhaps more important, what kind of free speech we are allowed to make. If you limit free speech, you will be forced to eat what the “jailers and guards” make you eat, and you have lost on two counts, not just one. Blessings, Doc Meek, South Jordan, Utah, USA, and Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

  • Barbara Carranza says:

    A PETITION PLEASE! AND PETITIONS TO ALL GOVERNMENTS AND THE UN. PLEASE!

  • Sally says:

    US Congress has an overwhelmingly majority of Liberal Democrats.
    Obama has appointed the wife of a Monsanto executive to a high Government post.
    I guess it makes no difference in Washington who gets elected.
    Business as usual.

  • Lisa Eve Seay says:

    Indians planted this land successfully long before we came here, how can we tell them not to speak up??? If we had respected the land and animals the way they did, then this would not be an issue nor would we have things to deal with like: pollution, disease, poverty, etc. It is sad that we have held them down and treated them so poorly and now we won’t allow them freedom of speech??? They were the guardians of this land, they knew more than we did about keeping it pure and clean. I am just amazed at our stupidity.

  • Linda Rivera says:

    Hundreds of desperate Indian farmers have already committed suicide because of failed GM crops! Monsanto have the blood of innocents on their hands. And the crime of destroying the health of millions through their genetically modified soy and other foods.

    There must be a world wide campaign against this evil perpetrated against the good people of India. An international petition plus e-mail letters to India’s government representatives for us to sign.

    This is a battle for the world’s innocents, not just India’s innocents!

    Please God, protect our brothers and sisters in India from this crime against humanity.

  • Les says:

    This sounds like more madness from the country that brought the world Indira Ghandi and the “Emergency”, sutti, and the horrors of caste violence.
    The greedy pirates have purchased the politicos lock, stock and barrel. They will poison the world and wreck havoc on the data we depend on to survive as organisms, our very DNA.

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