CPM not opposed to GM food Friday, January 7, 2011 CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has backed politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai on genetically modified crops, saying his remarks were in line with the party’s views. “What he has said is the understanding of the party. Pillai had also explained why we are opposed to Bt cotton and Bt brinjal,” Karat told The Telegraph. Pillai told a seminar in Kerala that “it is superstitious to completely oppose” genetically modified seeds, a shift from the party’s opposition to GM products marketed by multinational companies. Sources in the CPM, however, felt that Pillai, considered close to Karat, had indeed nuanced the party line. “As Marxists we cannot be opposed to science. But our opposition to GM seeds goes beyond science. It is about science being monopolized by imperialist forces. Pillai seems to have overlooked this position,” according to a senior party leader. The CPM’s line on GM seeds finds mention in an October 2009 document of the central committee when the issue came up for discussion. “Genetically modified crops are to be used only after adequate trials and safeguards are put in place. Such technology is now sought to be monopolised by multinationals and their domestic collaborators. The use of biotechnology must be done through public research institutions and they cannot be the preserve of the private sector,” the central committee document said. Kerala Chief Minister V Achuthanandan, however, disagreed with Pillai and said the state would not accept genetically modified food, in any form. Copyright © Food & Beverage News. All rights reserved.
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