File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_1998/postcolonial.9811, message 152


Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 17:48:27 +0530
From: "PROF. NANJUNDA SWAMY" <swamy.krrs-AT-aworld.net>
Subject: Cremate Monsanto!!


=A0 ** please distribute as widely as possible **

Dear friends,

Monsanto's field trials in Karnataka will be reduced to ashes, starting on
Saturday. Two days ago the Minister of Agriculture of Karnataka gave a press
conference where he was forced by the journalists to disclose the three sites
where field trials with Bt cotton are being conducted (for background
information about the trials, see appendix 2 at the bottom). KRRS activists
have already contacted the owners of these fields, to explain them which
action
will be taken, and for what reasons, and to let them know that the KRRS will
cover any loses they will suffer. On Saturday the 28th of November, at midday,
thousands of farmers will occupy and burn down the three fields in front of
the
cameras, in an open, announced action of civil disobedience.

These actions will start a campaign of direct action by farmers against
biotechnology, called Operation 'Cremation Monsanto', which will not stop
until
all the corporate killers like Monsanto, Novartis, Pioneer etc leave the
country. Farmers' leaders from the states of Maharastra, Gujarat and Madhya
Pradesh (states where Monsanto is also conducting field trials) were yesterday
in Bangalore to prepare the campaign.

The campaign will run under the following slogans:

STOP GENETIC ENGINEERING
NO PATENTS ON LIFE
CREMATE MONSANTO
BURY THE WTO

along with a more specific message for all those who have invested on
Monsanto:
You should rather take your money out before we reduce it to ashes.

We know that stopping biotechnology in India will not be of much help to us if
it continues in other countries, since the threats that it poses do not
stop at
the borders. We also think that the kind of actions that will be going on in
India have the potential not only to kick those corporate killers out of our
country: if we play our cards right at global level and coordinate our work,
these actions can also pose a major challenge to the survival of these
corporations in the stock markets. Who wants to invest in a mountain of ashes,
in offices that are constantly being squatted (and if necessary even
destroyed)
by activists?

For these reasons, we are making an international call for direct action
against Monsanto and the rest of the biotech gang. This call for action will
hopefully inspire all the people who are already doing a brilliant work
against
biotech, and many others who so far have not been very active on the issue, to
join hands in a quick, effective worldwide effort.

This is a very good moment to target Monsanto, since it has run out of cash in
its megalomaniac attempt to monopolise the life industry in record time. It is
going now through a hard time of layoffs and restructuration in a desperate
effort to survive, since it cannot pay its bills. It is also a good time
because several recent scandals (like the pulping of the Monsanto edition of
The Ecologist, the whole =91Terminator Technology=92 affaire, the illegal
introduction of Bt Cotton in Zimbabwe, etc) have contributed to its profile as
corporate killer, which, being the creators of Vietnam War=92s Agent Organe and
rBHG, was already good enough, anyhow.

We are hence making a call to:

* Take direct actions against biotech TNCs, particularly Monsanto (be it
squatting or burning their fields, squatting or destroying their offices, etc)
* Maintain the local or/and national press informed about all the actions
going
on around the world
* Take direct actions at stock exchanges targeting Monsanto, to draw attention
on its state of bankruptcy

We are making this call for action on the line of Peoples' Global Action
(PGA),
a worldwide network of peoples' movements, in order to emphasize the political
analysis beyond our opposition to biotechnology. This analysis does not only
take environmental concerns into account, and is not limited to the defense of
food security - it attacks neoliberal globalisation as a whole, the WTO regime
as its most important tool, and the global power structures (G8, NATO, etc) as
the root of all these problems. You will find the complete political analysis
on the manifesto of the PGA, which you will find in the web page
<http://www.agp.org/>www.agp.org

The fact that this call for action takes place on line with PGA also has other
implications:

* We are calling ONLY for non-violent direct actions. Non-violence in this
context means that we should respect all (non-genetically modified) living
beings, including policemen and the people who work for these TNCs
* The campaign will take place in a decentralised manner, and nobody should
speak on behalf of other people involved in the campaign without their consent
(also not on behalf of PGA, of course); however, people are welcome to report
about the actions of others without pretending to represent them.

If you want to be informed of what is going on around the world on this
matter,
please send a message to listproc-AT-gn.apc.org with the message =93subscribe
pga-ge=94 on the text body. This way you will be informed about what is going on
in India and in other countries. (The list will be active a few hours after we
send this message).

Please, try not write back to this address, since we will be madly busy in the
next days with the mobilisations. However, if you have good contacts with
international media (CNN, BBC, TV5, etc) and want to help us to get them here
to cover the bonfire at Monsanto=92s field please let us know as soon as
possible.

Friendly greetings,

Prof. Nanjundaswamy
President, Karnataka State Farmers Association

********************

Appendix 1: "Police Protection to all American Companies in Bangalore City",
article appeared in =93Samykta Karnataka=94, November 25th

Police Protection to all American Companies in Bangalore City

Bangalore Nov. 25th

It has come to light that the American Ambassador in Dehli has written to the
Government of the State of Karnataka asking to provide a strong police
protection to all American companies in the city.

Pointing out the previuos repeated attacks on American companies by
=93miscreants=94, the Ambassador has requested the State Government to create an
atmosphere without fear and anxiety for them to work.

He has stressed the need for a special security for companies related to
science and technology and also the their hundreds of foreign companies in the
city.

Tight Security for Monsanto

Anticipating attack on the offices of Monsanto in Bangalore, tight security
has
been provided from today, top police sources confirmed.

Police have said in their note that they are providing security for the
company
owning the Terminator Technology and having the right to sell seeds which do
not germinate for the second time. In a city where most of the TNCs are based,
the present developments have made them to work with fear and anxiety.

(Translated from Kannada)

*********************

Appendix 2: Monsanto under siege in India, message sent on 23rd November 1998

=A0=A0 **please distribute as widely as possible**

Dear friends,

On Monday the 16th the public was informed by Indian newspapers that
Monsanto (well known in India for the Terminator Technology) has been
conducting 40 field trials with genetically manipulated cotton across five
Indian states for the last three months. Monsanto is testing a hybrid
cotton seed that has been genetically engineered to produce the Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) enzyme. The permission granted by the federal government
in Delhi pertains the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andrah Pradesh,
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Now that peoples' movements are
starting to mobilise on this matter, the same central government that
granted the permission is inviting Monsanto to leave the country.

Monsanto has formed a joint venture with Mahyco (a 30 years old seed
company) to carry out these field trails. According to the media, Monsanto
now owns 26 percent of Mahyco.

In the rest of the message I include some excerpts of the newspaper
coverage of this affaire. We will keep you informed of the developments in
this part of the world, which will most probably include a number of
nonviolent direct actions to burn down the genetically modified crops and
kick Monsanto physically out of the country. We encourage you to do similar
actions all over the world=A0 maybe we can make Monsanto's shareholders feel
our pressure reflected on the value of their stocks.

Friendly greetings,

Prof. Nanjundaswamy
President, Karnataka State Farmers Association
swamy.krrs-AT-aworld.net

'Curiously though agriculture is a state subject, Karnataka Government
seems unaware of the trials going on in the State. Agriculture Minister C.
Byre Gowda admitted that he had been informend of the ongoing trials but
was unaware of where they were being undertaken=A0 in Karnataka or in
Maharashtra.' (The Indian Express, Bangalore edition, cover page, 16th
November)

The trials started three months ago although the 'Ministry of Science and
Technology has admitted that it does not have the requisite regulatoy
regimen to assess the risk of dealing with such transgenic material for
which biosafty guidelines have only now been issued.' (The Indian Express,
Bangalore edition, cover page, 18th November). In that sense, the
University of Agriculture Science (UAS) Bangalore warned that 'The genetic
modification involved in geneticlly engineered hybrid seeds is a concealed
one that cannot be ascertaiened with existing regulations of the seed act
and quarantine.' (ibid.) B.R. Hedge, Director of Research at UAS, affirmed
that 'The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) was only now
starting to look at ways which regulatory mechnisms should be put in place
to check the clandestine import of such genetic material. Nevertheless, for
the moment we have nothing ready' (The Indian Express, Bangalore edition,
page 9, 18th November)

The KRRS has issued a deadline to the State Government and Monsanto to
disclose the places where the trials are being conducted and the exact
description of the seeds that are being tested. '"Monsanto should reveal
immediately where the trials are being conducted" failing which "direct
action would follow on the company's office in Malleswaram" he [Prof.
Nanjundaswamy] threatened. "The government can foist 100 cases of attempt
to murder [against us], but we will throw it [Monsanto] out... first from
Karnataka, next from Maharashtra" ... The former professor of law wondered
how the State's Agriculture Minister could be unaware of the trials. "The
Government cannot continue for three minutes" considering its irresponsible
behaviour, he said'. (The Indian Express, Bangalore edition, page 4, 20th
November)
'Monsanto will have to leave the country within a week. Otherwise we will
be forced to throw them out. We have given a day's ultimatum to the company
to furnish details about the seed trials undertaken in the state and the
country.' (Prof. Nanjundasway in The Times of India, Bangalore edition,
page 5 20th November).

Although the field trials are testing BT cotton, the Indian press and
politiciancs seem to be rather confused and are mixing up this issue with
the terminator technology, which has been used by opponents of Monsanto as
an example of the destructive potential of this corporation. However, this
confusion is making it easier for Monsanto to reject any accusation by
denying the use of this technology. Here are some statements about this
issue taken from the last days press.

'Second and Third World markets are the main targets for the terminator
seed.'
William Phelps, Spokesman, Department of Agriculture, USA (quoted in The
Indian Express, Bangalore edition, cover page, 18 November)

'It is not merly the economic factors that threaten the poor farmers of the
world, but it is nature of the Terminator gene itself, since the pollen
from the crops carrying the Terminator will infect the fields of farmers
who either reject, or cannot afford the technology.'
(UAS, quoted in The Indian Express, Bangalore edition, cover page, 18
November)

'This is a terminator of biodiversity, terminator of food security. It is
a damaging technology because pollination pollution can render all
indigenous varieties sterile. This gene will slowly remove all
characteristics of germination from seeds. This means the harvest seeds
cannot be used for sowing during the next seseason. It will also force seed
dependency on farmers who cannot afford to buy seeds.
Monoculture was introduced in the country in 1965 with an aim to provide
food security. When Green Revolution Technology introduced monoculture it
was thought the method would be very effective. Terminatorgene is being
dubbed as a second Green Revolution Technology. This, too, will prove
ineffective.
Genetically modified seeds are polluting the local species. It will not
solve the food problem, in fact it will terminate food security along with
biodiversity.'
(Prof. Nanjundaswamy, quoted in The Times of India, Bangalore edition, page
5, 20th November)

The sincerity of Monsanto can be easily assessed by the usual roguish reply
it gave to the critics: 'Monsanto will only bring to India, products and
technologies which are consistent with what India wants and its laws
aprove.... Monsanto has not, and will not, bring to India any technology
that will adversely affect the environment, current agricuture practices
and force farmers to use any technology it provides.' (Monsanto statement
quoted in Deccan Herald, Bangalore edition, page 9, 21th November)

Yesterday the Union Minister for Rural Development, Babagouda Patil,
declared that 'Monsanto wil be asked to leave India' (headline, The Times
of India, Bangalore edition, page 5, 23 November).

'He said that he recieved Information that Monsanto is developing and
conducting field trials on the "terminator gene" seeds at a private farm in
Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district. "I have informed the Prime Minister
and Union Agriculture Minister", he said. He said he knew the complications
arising out of the issue due to WTO stipulations. "But the government will
not compromise on this issue as crores of farmers' lives will be in danger.
The terminator gene seed will pose a serious threat to Indian agriculture."
The Union cabinet is expected to deliberate on the issue besides initiating
measures to close Monsanto's buisness operations in the country... He said
that the Center would not hesitate to withdraw from WTO if its provisions
threaten our very existence.' (The Times of India, Bangalore edition, page
5 23rd November)





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