A large number of consumers, farmers, doctors and students, including women and children, with banners and placards denouncing GM crops and food gathered under the aegis of “Alliance for GM-free and safe food Punjab” held an anti-Bt Brinjal rally in Sarabha Nagar market here on Monday evening.

The rally which began as a march from Jagraon bridge was joined by the students of Delhi Public School, who enacted a play on the same theme. The gathering was also shown a film “Posion on platter” made by a well-known film director, Mahesh Bhatt.

Led by Prof Jagmohan Singh, nephew of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Bharat Bhushan Thapar, the grandson of Shaheed Sukhdev and Dr LS Chawla, former vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and national president of Doctors for Peace and Development, a large number of protesters took an oath to start another independence movement against colonization of food by MNCs under the guise of GM food. Beginning from Shaheed Memorial at Jagroan Bridge, a Mashaal march went up to Sarabha Nagar market, where the rally morphed into a candle-light vigil.

“It is the commencement of a peaceful struggle by citizens to protect food sovereignty of the country”, said Prof Jagmohan Singh. “We are here to begin a contemporary freedom struggle to save our food and consequently our health and life, as the decisions taken in the interest of multi-national corporations amounts to revival of modern colonization”, added Prof Singh. Bharat Bhushan, grandson of Shaheed Sukhdev seconded the point-of-view.

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