GM crops may sow seeds of rift between Sangh Parivar and BJP

In a move that could spark a major rift between the Sangh Parivar and Narendra Modi-led central government, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), the economic arm of the Sangh Parivar, has accused the government of deceiving people on the issue of genetically modified (GM) crops.   

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), which falls under the Environment Ministry, gave the green signal for field trials of genetically-modified (GM) rice, mustard, cotton, chickpea and brinjal at its meeting in Delhi on Friday.

Lashing out at the move in a statement, SJM said, ‘The people of India who have elected the BJP to power are feeling deceived. They voted the Bharatiya Janata Party 

to power on the promises the party made to the people of India in its 2014 manifesto and speeches made by the leaders during the election.’ 

Ironically, the Bharatiya Janata Party in its election manifesto had said, ‘Genetically modified foods will not be allowed without full scientific evaluation on the long-term effects on soil, production and biological impact on consumers.’

SJM all-India co-convenor Ashwini Mahajan said, ‘Neither the government nor the GEAC has disclosed as yet the contents of the promised scientific evaluation, if any, or what changed between 7 April, 2014 (the day the BJP released its election manifesto) and 18 July, 2014, when the field trials of GM food crops were approved.’

Hinting that the Modi government was playing to gallery of private players with vested interests, the SJM asked the government to probe the likely impact of GM crops. 

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch said that the government should ‘not rely on the biased and manipulated reports of vested interests among the industry and institute enquiries about the likely impact of GM food crops on soil, human and other species’ health to ensure that no harm is done to the traditional gene pool, biodiversity of the nation, soil, food security and health of the people of India.’

Meanwhile, Gene Campaign chairperson Suman Sahai has said the content and allegations in the genetically-modified organisms (GMO) section of the IB report are ‘shocking’. The title itself, ‘Concerted efforts by select foreign-funded NGOs to ‘take down’ Indian development projects’, is more than extreme, Dr Sahai said in a statement to media.

‘We question the IB’s jurisdiction to decide which projects are in favour of India’s development and which are not. As we understand, in a democratic set-up like India, which is governed by the Constitution, policies have to be made and laws have to be enacted in accordance with the Constitution,’ she said, adding that the higher courts could strike down policies and laws that they found ran against the Constitution.