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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

[Shadeshi_Bondhu] Press Release: Launch of I AM NO LAB RAT campaign.


Hamara Beej Abhiyan

1181/2146, Ratnakar Bag – 2

Tankapani Road

Bhubaneswar.

 

DT: 15.10.08

 

PRESS RELEASE

"I AM NO LAB RAT" –Consumer Awareness Campaign against Genetically Modified Food

 

Bhubaneswar: Hamara Beej Abhiyan, a movement to restore the right to seed of farmers, has launched a campaign against the introduction of Genetically Modified (GM), food. Formally titled "I am no lab rat", this campaign highlights the fact that human beings are being subjected to a mass experiment by the way of GM food, whereby plants are genetically modified to include novel characteristics.

 

It is of great concern, that this campaign points out, is that genes of sexually incompatible species are being interchanged. Spider, scorpion, toxic bacteria and even human genes are being introduced into such commonly consumed food such as brinjal, cabbage, cowpeas, bhindi and even rice. The idea is to make the crops toxic to pests but without bothering to investigate the effect on humans.

 

Laboratory experiments on rats has revealed that upon being fed genetically modified food, these rats displayed symptoms of immune system damage, stunted growth, misshapen cell structures in different organs, organ damage particularly to liver and kidneys, bleeding ulcers in stomach, reduced digestive enzymes, inflamed lung tissue, higher offspring mortality etc.

 

Thus the food that we have so confidently eaten for the last so many centuries is soon going to be so drastically changed and made dangerous. The Indian Government (the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) is on the verge of releasing the first genetically modified food crop for human consumption, Bt-Brinjal, which will be followed by all other vegetables, cereals and fruits. Following huge resistance, especially in Europe and many other countries, the big seed companies are now eyeing India for their experiments.

 

Bt Brinjal, as the name suggests, contains the toxin producing gene from the toxic bacteria Bacillus Thuringiensis, in an effort to kill the pests like fruit and stem borer. However what effect this toxic brinjal will have on humans who consumed it is not being investigated. Independent research has revealed that the Bt toxin is not destroyed by cooking and has the ability to interfere with the gut bacteria in humans.


The Bt toxin Cry1Ac protein has tested positive on all parameters of tests for allergy. In a horrific incident in 1989, dozens of Americans died and several thousands were afflicted and impaired by a genetically altered version of the food supplement – L-tryptophan. A settlement of $2 billion dollars was paid by Showa Denko , Japan 's third largest chemical company. (Mayeno and Gleich, 1994).

 

The programme was launched in Hotel The New Marrion by Secretary Wildlife Society of Orissa Sri Biswajit Mohanty unveiling a cage where a half human half rat specimen was enclosed signifying that the human race has become a laboratory rat for the dangerous GM food experiment.

 

Sri Bhabani Das of Hamara Beej Abhiyan described why the "I Am No Lab rat" was launched as a means to sensitize the urban consumers and is running successfully all over India . The response has been very good and people are signing a petition to the Union Health Minister protesting the GM food experiment in very large numbers. He said anybody could visit the website www.iamnolabrat.com and going to the petition page, fill in the required details, and participate in the petition signature campaign. He said that a van carrying the caged "lab rat" would move all around the city for the next one week to create awareness about the adverse effects of GM crops. He also spoke that because the GM crops could contaminate other crop, all our food can become exceedingly toxic. The process of contamination was irreversible he pointed out.

 

Sri Saroj Mohanty of Paschim Ordisha Krushak Sangathan Samamvay Samiti  spoke about the illegal cultivation of Bt Cotton in Orissa. If the government was not able to check this illegal cultivation how could it ensure that the strict bio safety protocols to be followed during the cultivation of GM crops? Have the farmers been able to follow the instructions of the State with regard to fertilisers and pesticides, he questioned.

 

Sri Debjeet Sarangi of Living Farms spoke about the threat to food sovereignty and how GM was all about patenting seeds and handing over the ownership of the world's food to a few American multinationals.

 

The launch was followed by a press conference.

 

 

(Bhabani Das), (Saroj Mohanty) (Debjeet Sarangi) (Jagannath Chatterjee)

Hamara Beej Abhiyan.

 






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[Shadeshi_Bondhu] Its not upto the ladies

Its not upto the ladies
It is not upto those armchair pundits, either. Not if people want to take control of their own destiny.
 
 
Our journalist establishment would like us to beleive that its upto Hasina or Khaleda - only if they learned lessons during last two years - only then we will have good governance in the short run.
 
We couldn't disagree more.
 
If these two ladies only have learned anything - then they will be part of our ongoing march towards development. It would be nice if they could make that adjustment. But if they are incapable of doing that - then - they will be left behind. History will be made with or without them.
 
 
One good question would be to ask whether there is a way to know whether they are learning anything or whether they have learned anything. Yes, there is a way.
 
These two ladies will learn only if the establishment in our local journalistic circle shows some indication that they understand this issue. If they can catch up with the wind, the ladies will too. If our talking heads are too stagnant to catch up with the changes in the peoples mind, specifically the changes in the young generation, they will be left behind - so will be the case for their queens!
 
There is off course another indication. The establishment that reside outside our land - the so-called donors or development partners. The two ladies and their cronies have so far lived and grew up with direct or indirect support of those foreign powers. Would those powers sense the change in the people and support them in a constructive way? If they do not, no body will be served. It is however unfortunate so read the tone of Mr. Milam's analysis (see below). 
 
Its not upto the ladies. It is not upto those armchair pundits, either.
It is upto the people who want to take control of their own destiny.
 
 
If you thought some of the ideas are worth of your reading time, please forward it to others. If you have an ear to the columnists in regular traditional media, please forward it to them. If you have an ear to the journalists and news editors of the electronic media, discuss it with them. Hope they would look at the suggestions and give due diligence.
 
Thanks for your time,
Innovation Line
 
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Note: This is a freelance column, published mainly in different internet based forums. This column is open for contribution by the members of new generation, sometimes referred to as Gen 71. If you identify yourself as someone from that age-group and want to contribute to this column, please feel free to contact. Thanks to the group moderator for publishing the article as Creative Commons contents.
 
Use ICT to practice democracy.
=======================================================
 
 
 
analysis: It ain't over till it's over —William B Milam

It is a supreme irony that military interventions are dependent on their elected successors for their place in history. It seems to me that short interventions have a chance of avoiding the arrogance and corruption of spirit that inevitably sinks long ones

Pakistan has emerged from another long period of direct and indirect military rule to a very uncertain future. Its former other half, Bangladesh, is about to emerge from a short period of indirect military rule, also into an uncertain future. That is about the only similarity I can think of these days between two countries that used to be one.

In contrast to its previous military interludes, the Bangladeshi military this time chose what I have called the "Turkish Model" of military intervention, the pattern established by the Turkish army in three different coups. The Bangladesh army, averse to prolonged direct rule after its previous times in power, sought immediate help from civil society by appointing a technocratic civilian government to run day-to-day affairs and pledged to stay in power for two years only while it reformed politics and set things right for sustainable democracy.

In contrast, the Pakistan army chose to replicate its traditional model of intervention — root and branch reform over a long period. The results, we all know, were no different than before, and no better.

Does either the long or the short form of military intervention work? Some would contend that the root and branch form succeeded in Chile, but this is tenuous given the enormous human cost.

Almost always, it seems, militaries that intervene with some grand plan of reform become so intent on preserving their power and seeking legitimacy that they forget the agenda that they came to power to implement. The Turkish model is often thought to be more successful because it is short with a more limited agenda of reform, but if that is so, why did the Turkish military have to intervene so often; did it create its own self-fulfilling prophecy? Why did the Mauritanian military take over again after giving government back to civilians only a year earlier, or the Thai people again take to the streets against the present government? To have to repeat interventions time after time hardly seems a definition of success.

And now the latest South Asian attempt at a Turkish model intervention, in Bangladesh, appears to be petering out without having accomplished what it set out to do — reform Bangladeshi political culture so that military intervention would never again be necessary — that is stop the vicious circle that interventions themselves seem to create. Many of us who wish the country nothing but the best feel great disappointment that more has not been done by the interim government that took over in January 2007.

But 22 months later, it all appears to be for nought. The two main political parties, with deep vested interests in the status quo, appear to have gambled that the new interim government meant what is said, that it would remain in power for only two years and, in effect, called its bluff. The parties knew that they could outwait this government if it stuck to that pledge.

What they saw was a political vacuum in the middle of the body politic, which they would own (even with their leaders in jail) unless it was filled by someone else. There were no leaders of civil society, even though encouraged by the government, who stepped up to do so. The parties refused to jettison their leaders (and the leaders refused to be jettisoned), and they declined to democratise, in effect to give up their old way of life.

Concomitant with political party reform, the interim government set out to extirpate the corruption that had fuelled the poisonous political culture. This objective was overwhelmingly supported by the public and had been, perhaps, the primary motivation of a large segment of the army officer corps for intervention. The perception is that this has also been a failure because, except for a very few, most of those arrested are out of jail on bail and/or appeal. However, a number of those charged with corruption have been indicted, and a few have been convicted.

In other words, an understaffed and under-resourced anti-corruption commission, though facing a daunting forensic task of proving the corruption of hundreds in courts that have been filled for years with crony judges appointed by the two political leaders, has made a brave start. As in most of the reforms that the interim government began, the follow up by the next elected government will make or break the anti-corruption effort. One thing that might persuade the elected government to pursue this with some vigour is that it retains a large measure of public support.

In fact, defenders of the interim government's performance describe the anti-corruption effort as an example and a symbol that it has set in motion a number of reforms that can, if not strangled in their cradle by the elected government that is to follow, slowly change the mindset and modify the behaviour of political actors. The foundation has been laid, they say, that over time can change the poisonous political culture into a benign one, if it is nurtured and protected by the governments that follow, and especially the one to be elected in December of this year.

It is a supreme irony that military interventions are dependent on their elected successors for their place in history. It seems to me that short interventions have a chance of avoiding the arrogance and corruption of spirit that inevitably sinks long ones, but even they cannot succeed if they don't build for their elected successors the foundations of institutions that promote and reward democratic behaviour and punish those who transgress democratic norms.

Those who see the accomplishments of this short-term intervention as a glass half full point to its other achievements as starting blocks for the full-throated reform that is needed if Bangladesh is to come out of the spiral of poison politics, appalling governance, and vicious circles of military intervention.

A completely independent election commission has reregistered 80 million voters with photo ID cards. At least the coming election is almost certain to be fair, and retaining the independence of the commission in the next government will be a highly visible sign of its intentions. The interim government has passed a law that establishes a commission, which includes political party leaders and civil society to recommend high court judges; if this works, it will be a huge step to clean up over time the judiciary that is riddled with political cronies and re-establish the rule of law. An independent civil service commission has been established to oversee the use of the bureaucracy and prevent its misuse.

There are other proposals on the drawing boards or under discussion. Will those already in place, as well as those planned, work?

Only time will tell, and only Sheikh Hasina or Begum Zia will provide insight on whether these reforms should be taken seriously. The history of military interventions as well as the history of Bangladeshi political parties and their leaders does not lend much confidence. Yet it may be that the groundwork is there if they want to use it, and the attitude of the public and civil society will be a large determinant of that.

Certainly, whichever lady becomes the next prime minister will hear much from friendly governments and the rest of us about the virtue of necessary and still-fragile reform. For those of us who have despaired as this interim government seemed to give way to the parties and let the bad guys off after such a good start, whose every effort of the past few months seemed to be stalled or deflected to take account of reality, Yogi Berra's words may hold some hope.

"It ain't over till it's over," he said famously, and in the case of Bangladesh, it won't be over until we hear the tune one of these ladies will sing.

William B Milam is a senior policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington and a former US Ambassador to Pakistan and Bangladesh

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[Shadeshi_Bondhu] Only 3 days left! Get tickets to Arnob concert

Only 3 days left! Get tickets to Arnob concert

 

Drishtipat is proud to present ARNOB and friends in a rare performance in one of Washington DC's finest venues!

 

Venue: Historic Synagogue at 6th and I, 600 I Street, Washington DC 20001

Time: 7 pm
Tickets: $25 (general), $45 (reserved), $100 (VIP reception with artists)

 

Buy tickets at the door or purchase them online at https://arnobconcert-dc.ticketleap.com/

 

ARNOB, the young indie/folk-rock star from Bangladesh is pairing up with the throbbing indigenous drums of Nazrul Islam and the smooth jazz saxophone of Andrew Morris. This is part of a five city world tour organized by Drishtipat. All proceeds from the concert are intended for rights- and environment-related projects in Bangladesh. Come support us!

 

Learn more about the concert here:

http://www.drishtipat.org/concert2008/

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdGx95PJ_5Q&eurl=http://arnobdrishtipat.wordpress.com/

 

 

Drishtipat DC Team


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SB: Home of the Bangladeshi Teens & Youths
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SB: Friends' Family
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