agri bio
any insecticide that will kill
honeybees visiting its flowers, nor
enhances use of sprayable
insecticides. On the contrary, GM
mustard with its hybrid vigor will
help in increasing more visits of
honey bees and consequently of
their population. It is this simple
logic that we all know and this
Confederation needs to learn”,
said Dr Govind Gujar, Ex-Head,
Division of Entomology, Indian
Agricultural Research Institute
(IARI), New Delhi.
Opposition based on swadeshi
sentiments misplaced
The Swadeshi Jagran Manch that
is the part of the current
government’s ideological
fountainhead, Rashtriya Swayam
Sewak Sangh has fiercely opposed
any green signal to the GM
Mustard. Recently it had invited
the anti-GM scientist such as Dr
Gilles-Eric Seralini along with
various other critics on a single
platform to oppose the
technology. The move backfired
due to the allegations on the past
background of the scientist who
was specifically invited to talk on
GM Mustard developed in India.
“This move is to misguide general
public in India,” mentioned the
South Asia Biotechnology Centre,
“Some groups fundamentally
opposed to genetic modification
technologies, breaking their
ideological differences (both left
and right wings), seemed to have
found a common ground to
oppose this indigenous scientific
endeavor, relying heavily on an
imported anti-GM scientist such
as Gilles-Eric Seralini, a
controversial French scientist, to
misguide the general public in
India.”
“It is grossly unethical for Dr
Seralini to have accepted the
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BioVoiceNews | October 2016
“
It is grossly unethical for
Dr Seralini to have
accepted the invitation
from SJM to visit India
and criticize the internal
domestic matter related to
indigenous scientific endeavor. It
is ironic that SJM is relying on a
controversial videshi scientist
known for his anti-biotech
crusade to derail a “Make-inIndia” product developed by
Delhi University. SJM is utterly
confused with their core mission
and agricultural agenda
Dr C D Mayee, President, SABC
invitation from SJM to visit India
and criticize the internal domestic
matter related to indigenous
scientific endeavor. It is ironic
that SJM is relying on a
controversial videshi scientist
known for his anti-biotech
crusade to derail a “Make-inIndia” product developed by Delhi
University. SJM is utterly
confused with their core mission
and agricultural agenda” alluded
Dr C D Mayee, the President of
the SABC.
Echoing above sentiments, Prof
Marc Van Montagu, a world
renowned Belgian scientist
credited with the discovery of
recombinant DNA technology and
the recipient of the World Food
Prize in 2013 stated “it is a
disgrace for science and humanity
and a deep shame that Dr Seralini
still makes such statements after
his publications on tumors in rats
was retracted. The GM technology
is safe and used in Canola
(Canadian mustard) in Canada
since more than 20 years.”
It is worth noting that the French
Gilles-Eric Seralini and New
Zealand’s Lou Gallagher had a
major misadventure in
influencing government’s decision
on Bt brinjal in 2010. Then,
Seralini and Gallagher aligned
with Greenpeace and anti-GM
lobbyists, to successfully brand Bt
brinjal “unsafe” resulting in the
moratorium on Bt brinjal
imposed in Feb 2010. Notably, Bt
brinjal is successfully grown by
farmers and eaten by consumers
in Bangladesh since 2014.
While the scientific experts vouch
for GM Mustard pointing towards
need to provide farmers with a
facilitating environment, the top
ministers in the previous
governments as well as the
current dispensation too have
reiterated the need for modern
technologies to improve their crop
productivity in the larger interest
of the Indian economy. The
internal brainstorming by top
policymakers has highlighted GM
as one of the pillars to support the
goal set by Mr Narendra Modi to
double their income by 2022.
The scientific reasoning on Bt
Cotton couldn’t weigh much on
the then environment minister’s
decision despite the former Prime
Minister’s favorable statements.
However, the mood seems to be
different this time. The presence
of a decisive Prime Minister who
has time again praised modern
technologies, has bolstered the
GM Mustard’s chances. Unless of
course the politics takes over.