Bangladeshis want their Government to STOP GMO eggplant (brinjal, aubergine). Please support them. Sign this petition and spread far and wide!

https://www.change.org/petitions/annul-bt-brinjal-approval-in-bangladesh

Petition by Farida Akhter, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Brinjal is one of the most popular vegetables of Bangladesh. The government recently approved Bt brinjal's commercial cultivation in the country. This is an unnatural brinjal that has been produced by inserting bacterial genes so that a new toxin is produced within the plant for the control of Fruit and Shoot Borer (FSB) pest on brinjal. What has not been showcased however is that FSB can be controlled effectively by means other than chemical pesticides and GM technology, and there is evidence within the Bangladesh agri-research establishment on this.

Bt brinjal has been rejected for the many risks it poses to human health, biodiversity and environment, in countries like India and Philippines. This has been done after independent analyses of the data and claims presented by the crop developers. Bangladesh should not take up an irresponsible and irreversible experiment on its citizens by approving Bt brinjal especially when safer alternatives can be promoted with farmers.

We urge the government to be "responsible to science and responsive to society" as has happened in other countries where this Bt brinjal was sought to be pushed by the profit-hungry biotech industry, where the decision was against the introduction of Bt brinjal. Bangladesh should also ensure that its citizens do not become lab rats in an unaccountable experiment - we are urging the Government to annul the approval that has been given for commercial cultivation.

Join me in asking the government to cancel this approval. Spread the word and get your family and friends also to send this petition: https://www.change.org/petitions/annul-bt-brinjal-approval-in-bangladesh