The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

PERSPECTIVE

A Tribune Special
CAUTION! GM foods may be on the way
Need for careful study before switchover, says Sreedhara Bhasin

The first time I saw the gargantuan size of the genetically modified Vidalia onion in the United States, I was afraid to touch it. The gobhi never cooked up right, for it tasted like cotton buds and less like what we know as gobhi at home. The cabbage was limp, not crisp and green. The baingan, or eggplant as they call it, was another voluminous affair, all size and no substance.

All the NRIs’ brides who cook authentic Indian dishes in their suburban American homes and sigh because it never tastes like it did back home don’t realise that the GM (genetically modified) baingan bharta would never taste like the real thing.

When you switch over to GM food, you give up what was the intrinsic taste of the vegetable. GM veggies look ample and taste nothing like the real thing. If you eat GM veggies, you can count on giving up your velvety baingan bhartas, khushboodar muli parathas and luxuriant palak paneer.

This July, the Indian government formally announced a plan to introduce genetically modified food — tomato, brinjal and cauliflower — in the country within the next three years. This is the first time the Agriculture Ministry has officially endorsed the use of GM food crops. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Department of Biotechnology have approved the three transgenic crops that are apparently in various stages of tests and development in institutes across the country.

The final clearance for allowing cultivation of these GM crops will be given by the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation and the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC). Till date, India has only allowed the harvesting of genetically modified cotton — a non-food crop.

GM or genetic modification involves altering an organism’s genome by altering its DNA, transferring a new gene to it, or switching off a certain gene in that organism. To give a simple example, scientists have created a frost-resistant tomato plant by adding an antifreeze gene from a coldwater fish to it.

In a wider GM arena, the US has been the biggest producer of GM crops. The US Biotech giant Monsanto produces 90 per cent of the GM food world wide, owns exclusive rights to biotechnology and patents. GM crops account for more than 18 per cent of US agriculture which produces 96 per cent of the world’s edible GM organisms – GMOs.

According to ISAAA reports, in 2007, countries that grew 97 per cent of the global transgenic crops were the United States (57 per cent), Argentina (19 per cent), Brazil (15 per cent), Canada (7 per cent), India (6 per cent), China (3 per cent), Paraguay (2 per cent) and South Africa (1 per cent). Although growth has reduced in the industrialised nations, it is increasing in the developing countries.

Europe has traditionally been hostile to GM crops. The European approach has been cautious, driven by the fact that there is little information on the long-term effects of GM food which may be assessed only after intense and prolonged research.

US companies in their pursuit of greater markets and exports have faced a pitched battle in Europe. Many parts of Europe have vehemently opposed GM exports from the US. Protest has come from farmers as well as consumers and environmental groups.

What are the long-term side effects of eating GM food? Are human beings supposed to consume tomatoes that have a gene of a coldwater fish? Or fish that can attain maturity in an unusually short time? Health impact of consuming products that have recombinant gene is not proven; at least effects of consumption over a considerable period has not been tested for it to be certified completely safe.

Does the average person know that the BT brinjal carries a gene of Bacillus thuringiensis, a naturally occurring bacterium that produces crystal proteins that are lethal to insect larvae?

Licensing contract for the use of GM seeds is an effective tool that biotech companies use to control future revenues. Indian farmers have traditionally saved a portion of their seeds for the next batch of harvest. Once they switch over to GM seeds, they will have to abandon this traditional practice and buy licensed seeds from companies like Monsanto to continue agriculture.

Monsanto owns the right to the ‘terminator seed’ technology — a technique that turns seeds sterile after a completed harvest. If this technology is to be licensed eventually, it would mean virtual biotech control over seeds.

The so-called BT cotton success story is not impregnable. India is the third largest producer of cotton after China and the US. The Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co. Ltd, Mahyco, is one of the largest seed companies in India. In 1998, Monsanto became a 50 per cent shareholder in the company and received approval to conduct countrywide field trials. The data compiled was never made public.

In 2002, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of India gave conditional clearance to Monsanto and Mahyco for commercial planting of Bt Cotton. The production of cotton has considerably increased since 2003. However, this technology as touted by Mahyco, as intrinsically yield increasing, is not accurate; rather it provides added protection to the crops in heavy pest seasons. The technology is also much more costly and in areas where the farmers are struggling with soil condition or water scarcity, it would provide little benefit.

Days after the government announced introduction of genetically modified food crops in the country, Hillary Clinton who happened to be on her first visit as the US Secretary of State, which included a trip to India’s leading agriculture institute (PUSA), heartily supported transferring ‘cutting-edge technology’ to raise crop yields.

Like many proponents of GM industry, Hillary Clinton mouthed the shibboleths — world hunger and high yielding crops. It would be pertinent to mention at this point that the newly appointed Senior Adviser to the US’ Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is none other than ill-reputed Michael Taylor, Monsanto’s ex-vice president and chief lobbyist.

But then, hunger is not a direct consequence of scanty harvest. It is a by-product of social and political systems and the inequalities that these cause. Some GM proponents have hailed the GM ‘Golden Rice’ — a rice genetically modified to contain higher levels of Vitamin A, the lack of which causes blindness in the poorer countries. However, more than 12 million people in India who suffer from vitamin A deficiency live in food deficit areas or simply cannot afford to buy food.

People who go blind because they cannot eat enough — can they really buy the expensive Golden Rice? GM research and production are costly ventures and the biotech companies expect to make substantial profits on their investment. Many GM technology, plants and seeds are already patented by the leading GM companies, it would be childish to believe that the ex-gratia support of the US government is for the future of a hunger-free India.

It is true that GM has potential for mankind in medicine, agriculture and food. It can also help generate bio-fuel. Its long-term benefits to India can be producing crops of improved nutritional quality and crops that will grow under previously inhospitable conditions. Hunger is a real threat when the world population is over six billion and predicted to double in the next 50 years.

On July 17, 2009, in an interview to Rediff Business, Gilles-Eric Seralini, an eminent French Professor of Molecular Biology who has analysed the research data of BT brinjal, the first transgenic vegetable of India, claimed that the analysis and precision of the testing that Mayhco used for BT brinjal was far from satisfactory. He also flagged several issues which India’s top scientists who sit as the highest regulators on the Genetic Engineering Approvals Committee had overlooked, for example, the flaws in the toxicity test of BT brinjal.

There is very little transparency in GM testing. The biotech companies keep their technology under tight lids and are unwilling to share with the public details like blood analyses of experimental rats and mammals. Most tests do not last over 90 days. Some environmentalists believe that GM foods will lead to unexpected allergic reaction and diseases when consumed by humans. Some have speculated about antibiotic resistant genes spreading to pathogens in the body.

India seems to have become the favourite destination for the biotech industry. Besides cotton, genetic engineering experiments are being conducted on maize, mustard, sugarcane, sorghum, pigeonpea, chickpea, rice, tomato, brinjal, potato, banana, papaya, cauliflower, oilseeds, castor, soyabean and medicinal plants. Experiments are also underway on several species of fish. The sudden spurt in GM experiments is fuelled by funding from the biotech companies like Syngenta and Monsanto as well as support from international groups.

As simply put by a parliamentarian in Europe, wealthy companies are not here to feed the poor and save the environment. They are here to capture markets and make money. GM business is owned by top-notch multinationals and agribusiness has the potential to become a long-standing profit making business for them especially in a country like India with huge markets and an agricultural base.

GM technology requires careful, unbiased and long-term research, including human studies, before any genetically modified organisms could be safely released into the food supply. Is the Indian regulatory system equipped to deal with the new scope? Is the regulatory process unbiased and rigorous?

Would the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee make all relevant test data public before taking decisions on the introduction of GM products? Would mandatory labelling of any food product containing GM ingredients be enforced?

After all, it is my body. I should be able to choose what I put in it.

Who is responsible for Partition?
by Kirpal Singh

During the British Raj, there was a general impression that the British divided the Indians by pursuing their policy of “divide and rule”. But the truth is exactly the opposite. Long before the British came, the Hindus and the Muslims were sharply divided. The Muslims considered the Hindus as kafirs and the latter called the former maleshas. The literature written during the period in question confirmed this.

Whatever the position, the British never wanted to divide the country in 1947. It is clear from the Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946, that they wanted to fulfill the Muslim League’s demand one way or the other within the framework of a united India.

Moreover, Lord Clement Attlee made a last attempt by sending Professor W.H. Morris Jones to India along with Lord Mountbatten to prepare some scheme by which two sovereign states could remain united.

Morris Jones told this writer in an interview for his book, Select Documents on Partition of Punjab, “As far as I can recall Sir Stafford and Lord Attlee called me in May 1947 when Lord Mountbatten visited England. I was informed to prepare a plan which could have two sovereign countries for defence, communications and other similar purposes. Lord Attlee asked me if I had read anything of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and how it worked. He advised me to study that and evolve that sort of plan” (p. 772).

It is futile to blame any individual for India’s Partition. We should study and examine the circumstances which led to the creation of Pakistan. It was the failure of the Interim Government in 1946-47 which paved the way for the country’s division. There was continued conflict between the members of Muslim League and the Congress from the very beginning.

The Congress objected to the inclusion of Abdul Rab Nashtar from the Frontier Province in the Interim Government on the ground that he was defeated by the Red Shirt candidate in the 1946 election. Jinnah, however, maintained that if Nashtar was not included in the Interim Government, the Muslim League would quit and boycott the government.

Similarly, Jinnah objected to Jagjivan Ram’s inclusion. As there was no change in the Congress’ stand, bickerings increased between the Muslim League and the Congress camps. The objective of the Congress members in the Interim Government was to follow healthy conventions and non-interference by the Viceroy. They wanted the interim government to work as a team so that it could be replaced by a national government in due course of time. They felt that the Muslim League members had joined the government with the sole aim of holding the Congress to ransom, lest their claims for Pakistan failed.

In early Sixties, when this writer visited New Delhi’s Central Secretariat to consult the records on the Partition (which were not transferred to the National Archives by then), with the help of former Union Education Secretary Prem Kirpal, he was informed that the discussion on the issue of Pakistan in the interim government witnessed a fiery debate. While the Congress members including Jawaharlal Nehru opposed it, the Muslim League members defended it so much so that Abdul Rab Nashtar rose from his seat and told Nehru, “Who are you to deny us? We shall have Pakistan”.

Though there is no record of this incident, it indicates the bitter environment in which the interim government was working. Ultimately, when Nehru threatened to resign, this paved the way for the acceptance of the Pakistan Plan prepared by Lord Mountbatten.

When the Congress leaders insisted on the advancement of the transfer of power, the date was changed from June 1948 to August 15, 1947. Consequently, decisions were taken in a tearing hurry to divide the country. The Lord Wavell Plan was rejected because it suggested piecemeal transfer of power.

In the whole exercise, the sanest advice came from Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. He was of the view that India should wait for some more time because he was against the creation of Pakistan.

The writer is a former Professor and Head, Department of Historical Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala

OPED

Meaning of austerity
Looking beyond Tharoor’s Twitter
by Vijay Sanghvi

The great sage Gautam Buddha has suggested a middle path for life. He advised humans not to wallow in opulence and too many comforts but also not to torment their bodies with the kind of torture suggested by his contemporary Vardhaman Mahavir. Buddha had also advised to adopt simple life styles to attain the final salvation.

So austerity has some symbolic significance for the Indian mind. Indians would not make a virtue out of poverty and sacrifice of every comfort of life but they certainly enjoy a simple life and revere those who have wealth and yet adopt a simple life. This meaning is lost on the young generation, particularly those who have worked or been educated in the western style of education system at home or abroad.

Shashi Tharoor also could not understand why Congress president Sonia Gandhi recommended austerity for her party men, especially those holding offices. Perhaps Tharoor has been too much of comfort while working at the United Nations that he would idea of travelling by the economy class an abhorrent one. He naturally reacted in a phrase to which he has been used when he described the economy class as the cattle class. And he could be audacious in calling others holding offices as holy cows.

The austerity recommended by the Congress president was not an instinctive response to the situation developing because of threat of scarcities due to inclement weather conditions and insufficient rains. It was an imposed decision.

The bright professional minds could not understand why such a pretense? How much can be saving by reducing to the economy class while traveling as ministers or members of Parliament. Many did not react openly to this pretense though they have inwardly felt it because they are professionals who have received the best education that their parents could buy them. Their parents have also organised their holding a political office. More than 30 young MPs of the 15th Lok Sabha have had the best education because their parents could afford it. None had a great achievement to their credit before their entry into political arena.

But they were called when the time came by their parents to come and shoulder the responsibility of holding an office either through a popular mandate or through a back door entry into the Rajya Sabha. They did not have to slog their years among rank and file and take up the public causes to earn the gratitude of masses and thus their vote as well. Their parents had slogged instead before they could force the party high command to nominate their child.

However, the new generation cannot see and feel pains of the toiling masses because their parents had never allowed them such an opportunity as Gautam’s father had also kept him isolated from all those suffering from poverty, pain and old age. Most of them would have seen a steam locomotive only in rail museums. A ride in bullock cart was not even thinkable as even a train journey for them was a novelty. They belong to a fast age and are used to only plane journey.

Consequently, they have remained isolated from the realities of life that nearly 70 per cent of Indians do eke out. So a group of young MPs of different parties had to organise a special visit to a Madhya Pradesh village in the last Lok Sabha to actually see how villagers live. What learnt from their experience remained their private affair.

The young men invariably come up with suggestions and solutions that are pet theories of solutions that are imagined and devised by rich middle class socialites. They believe that solutions of the myriad problems of India were beyond comprehension and adaptation by the dhoti-clad politicians. But they also do not understand why the dhoti-clad class forgets its political and ideological differences and unites the strength to shun and deride the new professionals.

Professionals fail to understand that their ideas might earn them praises from the middle class but it does not touch lives of the poor. Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal unfolded his vision for educational reforms within 100 days and also announced setting up of seven new higher technical education institutes. He also preferred to abolish examinations for Class X.

However, his reform programme did not include strengthening infrastructure and quality of education at primary and secondary level that directly affects the poor masses. The social activists might heap praises of the minister for providing the constitutional right of education for children. But it does not provide facilities for free travel to and fro slums where child resides and school which is at a long distance. So slum child will remain in his residence and school would still be a distant dream despite the constitutional right. Such need never occurred to Mr Sibal and his advisers because none of them have felt and perceived conditions of slum children.

Shashi Tharoor’s peep in the life of Harijan on his village in Kerala in his childhood was because Dalit boys were made to sit separately when food was served. He had come across a Dalit woman who had occupied an IAS officer’s chair in his district. He saw her grand success but could not have a comprehensive idea of her struggle, her pain and her ordeal of life to attain that distinction. Tharoor has given an elaborate account of these episodes in his book on Freedom. He is more adept at using the American slang as the cattle class for economy class suggests.

Tharoor must have been taken aback at the sharp reactions within the party with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot demanding his resignation. Tharoor cannot understand that 80 per cent of passengers in the country belong to the cattle class as they cannot afford to travel by any other class even in trains.

Tharoor and other professionals would need to understand that in the national politics, you have to woo voters who actually come to polling booth to cast their votes and not for the class that can be held spell bound by the novel ideas. One needs to accept that they are creative class and can generate wealth for distribution among the poor. But new politicians cannot follow the man who said, “You must always talk of poor and poverty. It costs nothing.” Because poor are conscious and the cost is their votes.

On Record
North-east ideal for diverse tourism: Talukdar
by Bijay Sankar Bora

Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar

Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar is a prominent environment, wildlife expert and Ashoka Fellow. He is in the chair of IUCN/SSC and Asian Rhino Specialist Group. He is also Member, IUCN Commission of Ecosystem Management, Steering Committee of Project Elephant and National Wildlife Board.

He is also associated with many international and national bodies on environment and wildlife. In an interview to The Tribune in Guwahati, he stressed the need for protecting biodiversity in the North-east.

Excerpts:

Q: How do you see the role of the North-east in the perspective of global warming? Can it be India’s oxygen bank and at what cost?

A: North-East India is a major hotspot of biodiversity. Its forest cover is a precious green lung for the region. More worrying than climate change is our apathy towards environmental degradation. Development is imperative for humankind. But ecological security cannot be compromised.

Development must ensure that everyone gets proper food, shelter, education and health. Growth does not mean that 50 per cent of the population will have modern cars and the rest remain poor. For the North-east, we need a growth model which will be environmentally least damaging as also ensure resources to the people for enhancing their livelihood. Maintenance of the forest cover is a must for sustainable development and reducing the ill-effects of climate change and deforestation.

Q: What danger does development pose to the environment in the North-east across the frontiers?

A: Our North-east region has some hostile neighbours. Thus, possibly, we shall be losing more forest cover in the border areas. The pace of development is too slow due to socio-political instability. However, deforestation is going on at rapid scale due to the conversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes as also because of large-scale encroachment.

The Government of India should have regular dialogue with neighbouring countries and make a joint effort to secure the future of wildlife and forests. Development projects should be scientifically sound and least damaging to the environment.

Q: Do you advocate any specific environment policy for the North-east? Do the proposed mega dams in Arunachal Pradesh pose a threat to ecological balance in the region?

A: Yes, this region deserves a sub-regional environmental policy with due balance of growth and conservation. It needs electricity and a few dams, but the region is highly seismic and the soil formations are geologically new. Thus, the region could be served better through small-to-medium dams that will reduce catastrophe, displacement of people and degradation of forest cover.

Q: The downstream impact of big dams is much higher and the government should ensure the people’s safety first rather than just looking for development. Q: How do you assess the North-east’s rich ecology in improving the common people’s quality of life?

A: The forest resources of the North-east have been supporting the livelihood of many people, specially the tribals residing adjacent to the forests. The food, fodder, water etc. are being derived from the nearby forests. Economic development could also be planned through diverse tourism plan.

The North-east is an ideal site for developing and marketing diverse tourism including wildlife, water sports, trekking, cave expedition, cultural tourism etc. Development does not imply just smoke billowing out of a factory chimney. When we talk about it, people in general should have stake and get the benefit of growth activities.

Q: What is the adverse impact of prolonged conflict situation on the North-east’s environment, flora and fauna?

A: This region has been facing socio-political unrest due to diverse problems and challenges. This often puts pressure on finite forest resources and a few land mafia and anti-forest lobbies often try to encourage villagers to encroach upon the forest land. About 10-15 per cent of the total forest area is under encroachment in Assam. The more we lose forest the more we lose the diversity in flora and fauna.

Moreover, the crux of the socio-political unrest in the region is related to resources. Hence scientific management of resources is imperative.

Profile
Befitting honour for Manna Dey
by Harihar Swarup

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award has been conferred on the legendary singer Manna Dey a bit too late. He is 90 and he should have got the honour earlier.

Manna Dey had lived in Mumbai for more than 55 years but he has a weakness for Bangalore; it was in this picturesque city that he married Sulochana.

He fondly remembers long walks with his wife in Bangalore’s Cubbon Park and Lal Bagh. Manna da and his wife finally decided to move to Bangalore and have been living there with their younger daughter, Shouroma, in a rented house.

During his years at Scottish College, he sang to entertain his classmates. He began taking signing lessons from his uncle, Krishna Chandra Dey and Ustad Dabir Khan. During this period, Manna Dey stood first for three consecutive years in three different categories of inter-collegiate singing competition.

In 1942, he accompanied Krishna Chandra Dey on a visit to Mumbai. There he started working as an assistant, first under K.C. Dey, and then under Sachin Dev Burman, Later, he assisted other music composers and then started to work independently.

While working on his own as music director for various Hindi movies, Manna Dey continued to take lessons in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Aman Ali Khan and Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan.

Dey started his career in playback signing with the movie, Tamanna (Desire), in 1943. The musical score was by K.C. Dey and Manna da sang a duet with Suraiya. The song was an instant hit. He sang a solo penned by Sachin Dev Burman, Upar Ganga Vishal, in the 1950 movie Mashal (Torch). In 1952, Manna Dey sang for a Bengali film and a Marathi movie with the same name and storyline — Amar Bhupali. This established him as a leading playback singer.

Dey recorded a popular duet, Ketki Gulab Juhi, with classicist Bhimsen Joshi. With Kishore Kumar, he sang duets of different genres such as Yeh Dosti Hum Nehi Torenge (we will not break with friendship) in the blockbuster Sholay and Ek Chatur Naar Kar Ke Singar in Padosan (neighbour).

Dey sang with composer-singer Hemant Kumar in Bengali movies. He pioneered a new genre in Indian classical music wherein classical music is blended with pop music. Dey also performed Rabindra Sangeet and has recorded over 3,500 songs.

Manna Dey’s autobiography, Memories Come Alive, carries a quote from the noted playback singer Mohammad Rafi. He told journalists: “You listen to my songs; I listen to Manna Dey’s songs only”.

A documentary of Dey’s life was released in 2008 by the Manna Dey Sangeet Academy. His last wish is to keep on singing till his last breath. No wonder, his favourite song is: Meera Sab Kuch Mere Geet Re, Geet Bina, Kaun Meera Meet Re (song is everything to me, without song I am nothing).

There are some little known facets of Manna da’s personality. He prefers to wash his clothes, buy his grocery. He loves visiting the Anand Restaurant for his idlis and dahi vadas. He just loves meeting people, particularly youngsters.

Manna Dey has weakness for sports too. He can discuss with great passion a football match or a player. His love for cricket is also unflinching. In 2003, after landing in Kolkata, he did not go to his house but headed for Eden Gardens for signing a huge bat and thus pledging his support to Saurav Ganguly’s team for the World Cup.