RSS-affiliate writes to PM Modi opposing nod to GM mustard

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch has claimed there is insufficient data on GM mustard’s impact on human and animal health and that the crop would push the farmers further into debt.

Dubbing GM mustard as an “unscientific, toxic crop”, which is being introduced with “undue haste”, an RSS offshoot has written to PM Narendra Modi opposing the approval given to the crop’s cultivation.

A farmer protests in New Delhi against the plan to allow genetically modified mustard crop. (REUTERS File Photo)

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which opposes the introduction of modified crops, has claimed there is “insufficient data on its (GM mustard) impact on human and animal health” and that the crop would push the farmers further into debt.

Trashing Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee’s (GEAC) claims that the modified crop would increase yield and reduce country’s edible oil import bill, the SJM said: “We would like to emphatically state that this presumption is based on manipulated data, false conclusions and lobbying by vested interests. It is not at all Swadeshi (indigenous).”

SJM national co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said the impact of GM mustard on health is a serious concern, especially when incidences of cancer are on the rise.

SJM’s opposition to GM mustard is echoed by environmentalist Vandana Shiva who too questioned the ‘haste’ with which the crop is being introduced.