More on the stunning news that broke late Friday of the ban slapped on Monsanto in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
For news coverage of the ban see:
'Angry Andhra uproots Monsanto - Indian state bans corporate bully'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5326
PV Satheesh's letter below makes clear the full extent of the ban:
* You have already banned further sale of Monsanto seeds in AP.
* You have blacklisted them because they have not paid the 450 million rupees of compensation that your government ordered them to pay.
* You have suspended the Joint Director, Agriculture, Warangal, the highest agricultural official in the Department, for their complicity in fudging the Bt cotton records.
But Satheesh warns Andhra's Chief Minister, "Surely you will be the target of severe attack over the next few weeks and months from a slew of vested interests. The paid scientists, manipulated media and self serving political stooges of Monsanto. But we pray that you will retain this moral strength that your government has exhibited."
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p v satheesh
Director
June 6, 2005
Honourable Mr Chief Minister
I am not sure whether you are aware that you have created global history. In one of the boldest and just movements, your government has banned a transnational tyrant, Monsanto Corporation, from carrying out its profits first, people last vile business in Andhra Pradesh. You deserve global applause for this unprecedented act. In recent years, Monsanto has been acting as an unshackled bully by destroying farmers' well-being across the world. Many governments have been bought over by it while others find themselves too weak to counter its arrogant and deceitful moves.
It is this global scenario, which makes your government the vampire slayer. By showing Monsanto the door from Andhra Pradesh you have upheld the principle of Telugu Pride and made millions of concerned environmentalists proud all over the world.
About five weeks ago, the AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity, a coalition of over 140 civil society groups in Andhra Pradesh had submitted a memorandum to your government which contained three demands:
1. WE DEMAND FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH THAT THEY IMMEDIATELY TAKE STEPS TO PREVENT THE SALE OF THESE SEEDS FOR THE 2005-2006 SEASON WHICH IS CLANDESTINELY GOING ON ALREADY.
2. WE ALSO DEMAND FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH THAT THEY IMMEDIATELY ORDER A JUDICIAN ENQUIRY INTO THE INCIDENTS WHERE THE OFFICIAL AGENCIES HAVE EITHER SUPPRESSED THE TRUTH OR MANIPULATED IT TO FAVOUR THE COMPANY AND PUNISH THE GUILTY.
3. IN THE SAME PROCESS, WE DEMAND A COMPLETE ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF THE SMALL FARMERS WHO HAVE BEEN RUINED BY THEIR BT COTTON FARMING AND GET MAHYCO MONSANTO PAY THEM IMMEDIATE COMPENSATION. MAHYCO MONSANTO SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR SPREADING IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS THAT ARE RUINING FARMERS LIVES.
4. WE STRONGLY DEMAND THAT THE STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS IMMEDIATELY START AN INDEPENDENT ENQUIRY INTO THE PHENOMENON OF EXTENDED HELIOTHIS LIFE AND SOIL PATHOGENS AND SAVE LONG TERM DISASTER TO OUR SOILS AND OUR ENVIRONMENT.
5. We request the government to study this report very carefully and take the necessary steps to prevent an irreversible damage to the farmers economics and farming environment in Andhra Pradesh by taking immediate steps to bank the further sale and planting of Bollgard cotton.
We are proud of your government that it has acted with such a rare sensitivity and unprecedented urgency in the matter.
* You have already banned further sale of Monsanto seeds in AP.
* You have blacklisted them because they have not paid the 450 million rupees of compensation that your government ordered them to pay.
* You have suspended the Joint Director, Agriculture, Warangal, the highest agricultural official in the Department for their complicity in fudging the Bt cotton records.
These steps are unique in the contemporary history of the GE juggernaut, which rolls on the corporate muscle, their enormous money power, their ability to manipulate the media and control a bunch of self-serving scientists. Their capacity to corrupt governments is unmatched. The Indonesian case for which Monsanto was punished with a three million dollar fine in USA, the capital of corporate corruption, speaks volumes about their audacity and arrogant ability to destabilise governments. In the face of it, the steps you have taken provide your government an indelible space in the minds of environmentally concerned citizens across the globe.
Surely you will be the target of severe attack over the next few weeks and months from a slew of vested interests. The paid scientists, manipulated media and self serving political stooges of Monsanto. But we pray that you will retain this moral strength that your government has exhibited.
You were chosen by millions of farmers of Andhra Pradesh in the watershed election last year with a historical majority. You took an oath that their interests will occupy the foremost position in your government. Through your actions against Monsanto, you have shown the steely determination your government is made of.
Please do not get dissuaded by the arguments about FDIs, business environment, sliding confidence by the FIIs and the rubbish that goes with it. You must remember the statement of the King of Bhutan who once said : The Gross Domestic Happiness of my people is more important than the Gross Domestic Product of my country.
In Andhra Pradesh, we are in a tragic situation where this Gross Domestic Happiness has been seriously compromised by McKenzie manufactured blind visions. It was time that someone challenged these neo liberal Vision 2020s which were implemented on the foundation of the corpses of thousands of desperate farmers who were literally pushed to death by the myopic policies of the government of the day. Therefore your actions have come as a breath of fresh air and have the stamp of the principle that confirms the primacy of people's well being over dubious foreign investments.
We once again congratulate you and your government for these extraordinary steps and urge you to traverse the entire length and ensure that ANDHRA PRADESH BECOMES THE FIRST GE-FREE PROVINCE IN ASIA.
With warm regards
[p v satheesh]
The Chief Minister, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad