-
UPA Govt. should desist from introducing Bt. Brinjal: SDPI
The Social Democratic of India, (SDPI), is pained to learn the rumblings going on in the country over the genetically modified, (GM), Bt. Brinjal being given go-ahead green signal for commercial cultivation by the Congress-led UPA Government. It is most reprehensible act and should be condemned in most strongest terms from all quarters.
The UPA Government should know that any decision permitting the environmental release and sale of Bt. Brinjal in India is fraught with the most serious, far-reaching and irreversible consequences affecting our land and her inhabitants – human and non-human – for generations to come. With over 50 more GM crops reportedly in the Indian pipeline, we must exercise utmost caution. Once released, these cannot ever be recalled, nor can the chain reactions they unleash be stopped.
The UPA Government is well aware that a broad cross-section of Indian citizens – including outstanding scientists of undisputable integrity, as also large numbers of farmers and consumers – have opposed the sanctioning of Bt. Brinjal, expressing grave concern for the potential hazards posed to human, animal and environmental health, and to the very food security and sovereignty of India. These are certainly not trivial matters permitting any foolhardy haste in pushing Bt. Brinjal down the throat of this nation.
The central environment ministry is holding public consultations in various Indian cities to decide if they will allow commercial release of Bt. Brinjal. Last October, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, (GEAC), of the government had cleared it. But a member of the committee, Pushpa Bhargava, has alleged that all necessary tests were not carried out before the decision was taken. As things stand, Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh is holding his public consultation process and has so far covered Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur and Ahmedabad. He will hold consultations in Bangalore, Chandigarh and Hyderabad too.
However, even as Jairam Ramesh is on the job, two of his ministerial colleagues Sharad Pawar and Prithviraj Chavan have already supported Bt brinjal. Pawar has washed the Centre’s hands off the issue maintaining it has no say on the issue since the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has given its go-ahead to its commercial production. And Chavan has termed it as safe. The GEAC had given its go-ahead to the GM vegetable in October last year leading to vehement protests from across the country.
The SDPI is also concerned about the implications for food security for the country. It is not desirable to hand over the control of seeds to transnational monopolies. To ensure that access to seed is ensured, the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime must retain farmer’s rights and must not reduce flexibilities in Indian law.
As per the Cartagena protocol, to which India is a signatory, transgenic versions of crops for which we are the country of origin should not be permitted. Mexico, China and Peru follow this protocol. Thus transgenic varieties of Bt brinjal cannot be permitted in India.
The people of India have the right to safe food and the Bt Brinjal violates that. The multinationals have been wooing the farmers saying that GM seeds would give good produce and will not be infested by insects." Can anyone imagine how poisonous those seeds must be that not even insects can infest them.
The SDPI is of the opinion that prudence demands that all the above burning concerns should first be rigorously addressed and satisfactorily resolved, before a highly controversial crop like Bt. Brinjal is even considered an option. The people of India refuse to be anyone’s ‘lab-rats’ or sacrificial goats.
It is clear beyond doubt that the people of the states of Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal – that produce 60 per cent of all the brinjal grown in India – overwhelmingly oppose the release of Bt. Brinjal. The Chief Ministers of these 3 States have reportedly written to the Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh recording their opposition, and have pointed out that since agriculture is a state subject, the Centre should not impose the unwanted Bt. Brinjal on them, even ‘unofficially’ via a neighbouring state, as would inevitably happen if Bt. Brinjal is at all permitted anywhere in India.
At least 5 more States, including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, have also opposed the release of Bt. Brinjal – to protect their citizens and the natural wealth of their land. Indeed, several of these States are in favour of a total ban or moratorium on GM crops.
The SDPI fails to comprehend as to what is this unseemly rush for Indians to be the world’s first guinea-pigs for Bt. Brinjal, bearing a bacterial gene of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt.) that secretes its own pesticide? A baingan (aka brinjal/eggplant/aubergine) engineered to be pregnant with poison!
GM crops are totally prohibited in most nations. In much of Europe, including UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the ban continues in defiance of WTO directives. Over 85 per cent of global GM cultivation is confined to just 4 countries: US, Canada, Argentine and Brazil; and to a mere 4 crops – corn, soya bean, cotton and canola.
There is growing evidence of Bt toxins entering, lingering, and accumulating in the food chain, thereby posing a grave hazard to humans, animals, aquatic life and soil organisms. Furthermore, the medicinal use of various native brinjal varieties (uncooked) in Ayurveda is seriously threatened through contamination by Bt. Brinjal, rendering toxic the intended medicines.
The SDPI hopes that seeing the futility of the GM seeds wisdom prevails on the UPA Government and it steadfastly refuses to grant sanction for the release of Bt. Brinjal or any other GM crop in India. Thus, the Government should desist from the move.
more
-
SDPI celebrates first electoral victory
Karnataka state unit of Social Democratic Party of India felicitated the party’s national and state leaders on 27th January in Bangalore. On the occasion the SDPI celebrated its first electoral win in Sawai Madhopur of Rajasthan where party candidate Mohammed Anees was elected president of the Municipal Council bagging 2448 votes and restricting his nearest rival BJP candidate to 1224 votes.At Fallah Function Hall in Rahmathnagar of Bangalore on 27th January, SDPI national and state leaders assembled to celebrate the victory. The evening was kick-started with the welcome address by SDPI Karnataka state General Secretary Abdul Hannan. This was followed by felicitation which started with the party President E. Abubakar who was presented with the symbolic Mysore Peta (Turban). After him, other national and state leaders were presented with a shawl.Addressing the gathering SDPI President E Abubakar called upon the youth of the nation to stand up for Justice. He said the country had a lot of hope from the youth of the country.
SDPI Vice President Advocate Sadiq Siddiqui from Bhopal said that his 70 years old shoulders are ready to bear the weight, but he would still need the help of the youth to move towards the bright future of our great nation. Speaking in fluent Kannada the Karnataka state President Abdul Majid gave a great moral boost to over 400 cadres who were gathered in the auditorium.After the program, the delegates went on to inaugurate the office of Hebbal Assembly constituency.
more
-
SDPI has made a stunning victory in Rajasthan Gram Panchayat election.
SDPI has made a stunning victory in Rajasthan Gram Panchayat election.The candidate Mohammad Haneef has been elected as the Sarpanch of the Chann Panchayat in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan. He is SDPI Bilapur branch secretary.In all 5200 votes(60 per cent polling) were polled in the election. Out of these the SDPI candidate secured 2448 votes while Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP), candidate Kamlesh finished second getting 1224 votes only.It is important to note here that the total Muslim votes in the Chann Panchayat are 2100 whereas there are 3100 non-Muslim voters.It may be recalled here that in 1960 Ikramuddeen Qazi was the last Muslim Sarpanch before Haneef. Candidates from Meena and Gujjar groups were winning the seat until now.The statistics tell that only 1700 Muslim votes were polled in the election. It clearly indicates the significant influence the SDPI made among non-Muslim voters
1. Mohamed Haneef (SDPI) 24482. Kamalesh Kumar Garg(BJP) 12243. Ramlal Gujjar (Indpndt) 2744. Abdul Rasheed (do) 1305. Souraj Singh(do) 1126. Ramesh Jain (do) 38
more
-
SDPI condoles Jyoti Basu’s demise
The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has condoled the demise of Jyoti Basu, the veteran CPM leader and former Chief Minister of West Bengal.
The SDPI national president E Abubacker has expressed his extreme grief on the passing away of Jyoti Basu in Kolkata on Sunday.
Abubacker in a statement said Basu will be remembered for his interest in the growth of the Communist Party (Marxist) as well as in the welfare of the nation. Had Basu’s opinions been considered positively by his own comrades the history of the nation might have been different, he opined.
Basu’s departure in this critical juncture when CPM is facing unprecedented challenges will be a great loss to the mainstream Left politics, the statement added.
more
-
SDPI Hails Chidambaram for Realizing Folly of Equating Jihad with Terrorism
Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has hailed Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram for the hurt he caused Muslim community by equating Jihad with Terrorism.
A SDPI Press release issued by its General Secretary A. Sayeed said: "Kudos to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram for having realized his folly of equating Jihad with Terrorism and clarifying that he had no intention to hurt the sentiments of anybody in the Muslim community".
The Press release said it is good to observe that good sense has prevailed over Mr. Chidambaram and he has reportedly in his letter to some Muslim leaders has said that” I am happy to stand corrected” regarding the true meaning of the term Jihad.
The SDPI welcomed Mr. Chidambaram’s deemed apology and his humble acceptance of the fact that he didn’t have the knowledge of the real meaning of the word Jihad and he used the term as it is used in common parlance, the release said.
It may be mentioned here that SDPI had demanded of Mr. Chidambaram to clarify his position on the issue and tender public apology to Muslims for the same.
It may be recalled here that on December 31st last Prof. Jawahirullah, president, Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, (TNMMK), had urged through his letter to Mr. Chidambaram to set right for his misconceived concept of the Arabic word “Jihad” equating the term to ‘terrorism’, while the fact remains that the very word “Jihad” actually stands for meaning for “struggle or striving”.
Other Muslim leaders and groups including All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, TNMMK had also promptly condemned him for the statement. Some of them had also sent letter to him urging him to withdraw the statement and tender apology to the Muslim community
more
-
സംവരണം തട്ടിയെടുക്കാന് ആരെയുംഅനുവദിക്കില്ല
കോഴിക്കോട്: പിന്നാക്ക-ദലിത് വിഭാഗങ്ങള്ക്ക് അനുവദിക്കപ്പെട്ടിട്ടുള്ള സംവരണം തട്ടിയെടുക്കാന് ആരെയും അനുവദിക്കില്ലെന്ന് എസ്.ഡി.പി.ഐ വ്യക്തമാക്കി. ഇന്ത്യന് ഭരണഘടന രാജ്യത്തെ ദലിത്-പിന്നാക്കവിഭാഗങ്ങള്ക്ക് അനുവദിച്ചിട്ടുള്ള സര്ക്കാര് മേഖലയിലെ സംവരണം സംബന്ധിച്ച കാര്യങ്ങളില് ഇടതു-വലതുപാര്ട്ടികള് സവര്ണപക്ഷത്തിന് അനുകൂലമായ നിലപാടുകളാണ് കൈക്കൊള്ളുന്നതെന്ന് എസ്.ഡി.പി.ഐ സംസ്ഥാന സെക്രേട്ടറിയറ്റ് ആരോപിച്ചു. സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യാനന്തര ഇന്ത്യയില് ഏറ്റവും കൂടുതല് കാലം ഭരിച്ച മതേതരപ്പാര്ട്ടി എന്നവകാശപ്പെടുന്ന കോണ്ഗ്രസ്സും സവര്ണ ഹിന്ദുത്വ അജണ്ടകളുടെ വക്താക്കളായാണ് നിലകൊണ്ടതെന്ന് വ്യക്തമാക്കുന്നതാണ് സച്ചാര് കമ്മിറ്റി റിപോര്ട്ടിലെ പരാമര്ശങ്ങള്. സംവരണത്തിന്റെ അടിസ്ഥാനം ജാതിയാണ്. ജാതിവിവേചനം മൂലം സാമൂഹികനീതിയും അവസരസമത്വവും നിഷേധിക്കപ്പെട്ടവര്ക്ക് സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ മുഖ്യധാരയിലേക്കു കടന്നുകയറാനുള്ള മാര്ഗമെന്ന നിലയില് ഇന്ത്യന് ഭരണഘടന വിഭാവനം ചെയ്തിട്ടുള്ള രക്ഷാമാര്ഗമാണ് സംവരണം. അതിന് വ്യക്തമായ മാര്ഗനിര്ദേശങ്ങളുമുണ്ട്. ഈ നിര്ദേശങ്ങളെ അട്ടിമറിക്കാനുള്ള ഗൂഢതന്ത്രങ്ങളാണ് ചില സംഘടനകള് ഏറ്റെടുത്തിരിക്കുന്നത്. സംവരണം അനര്ഹരായവര്ക്ക് ലഭ്യമാക്കരുതെന്ന് ആവശ്യപ്പെട്ടുകൊണ്ട് ഇന്നു സംസ്ഥാനത്തൊട്ടാകെ പഞ്ചായത്തുതലങ്ങളില് പ്രതിഷേധപ്രകടനം നടത്തും. പ്രസിഡന്റ് അഡ്വ. കെ പി മുഹമ്മദ് ശരീഫ് അധ്യക്ഷത വഹിച്ചു. അബ്ദുല് മജീദ് ഫൈസി, എം കെ മനോജ് കുമാര്, ഇക്റാമുല് ഹഖ് പങ്കെടുത്തു.
more
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)