Hello All,
While doing some research about GMO and organic farming I came across some interesting artcles about a “anti-GMO Activist” Dr Vandana Shiva. It seems that she is supporting Indian peasantry and world peasantry but not known to work with farmers. Apparently she charges USD 40,000 and business class air tciket from New Delhi for a single speech, while our farmers are undergoing “you know what”.
The article links are as below:
Regards
Shan
Dear Sri Shan,
Any coin will have head and tail. Every person will have their life style and ideology. This is in all most all the leaders, activists, celebrities etc.
We can not club both. In depth, so many things to study may be existing. Criticism is always good but for good criticism, we have to go to considerable depth.
She came from a well elevated/educated/placed family, studied well and more over she faught and fighting for common farmers problems like Patents on seeds, farmer rights internationally and bringing indian farmers problems on to the dias of well learned people participating internationally.
It is only my small knowledge, and opinion.I feel that we can not degrade certain persons, who are fighting for the rights of our farmers, by showing their personal life styles.
with best wishes, g.p.rao, farmer
Dear Mr Rao,
I don’t know from where you got the idea that I am degrading somebody.
When an “activist” says that the eminent research publications such as Nature, Scientific American etc have been bought over by Monsanto, then we need to take that assertion with lots of salt.
Moreover, I did not criticize her private life, which I know nothing about. I used the word “apparently” if you did not notice, when I said how much she charges for “fighting” for farmers.
Sure, you may have your own opinion, but I never imposed my opinion about Dr Vandana Shiva since I have none.
I just highlighted some articles and I am inviting you again to have your own opinions based on facts.
Moreover, I find it disturbing to note that Dr Vandana Shiva has billed herself as India’s “leading” physicist before she became an activist. But as the articles says that and apparently she agrees since she has not objected to that fact, that nobody can find any reference about where she worked as a "physicist, let alone a “India’s leading” one.
If anybody is fighting for rights of others, they should be as truthful as possible. A half truth is a full lie.
I am closing down this conversation and this is my last post on this topic since somebody seems to be so much hurt even by facts.
For your information, I am a post graduate engineer from a leading institute and have 15 international engineering and scientific patents to my name.
This information is just to highlight that I know a thing or two about research and not to brag about me.
Regards
Shanmugasundaram.M
Dear Mr Shanmugasundaram.M, great. I appreciate your qualification and research works, with open heart. In general , I never be hurt my self, by getting pointed out by the facts. Intentionally I am not bad and I want always bring the known facts. Half truth is a full lie, here one thing I want to state, one very leading news paper of India, in regional language , wrote in 1975_1979 saying that a greatest man of India is a womeniser and mentioned with certain proofs. May be right or not, but he is a greatest man and he brought shine to us and we are enjoying it. We only inform the facts, what we know and not hurt some others feeling. We should take them lite only. With best wishes, g.p.Rao, farmer
Shan If GMO was delivering what they were promising… (pest resistance, disease resistance, increased output, less water consumption) then No Farmers in India would have killed themselves… India would be overflowing with farm output… people in the cities would have sold their houses left their jobs and rushed to the villages to chase the increased income from exporting the best quality fruits and vegetables…
The truth is GMO and Fertilizer industry has been cheating the Indian farmers and poisoning the ground and ground water in India…
The Government is hell bent on giving subsidy to fertilizer companies to save their losses but is not interested to pay the farmers their loss of crops… Neither do they want to acknowledge the reason for the suicides are the GMO, Hybrid and fertilizers… because they are all in it together…
For more than 20yrs India has been using more and more chemical fertilizers… if chemical fertilizers were good then India would have been the land overflowing with milk and honey… and Zero farmer suicide… but this is not so…
And unfortunately our Bees and Earthworks were killed by the use of chemical fertilizers and our groundwater has been poisoned with these chemicals… without bees how will pollination happen? Without Earthworm how groundwater will replenish?
If GMO & Chemical Farming was the correct path… there would not be even a single person involved in Organic Farming…
How can you say what she says is wrong?
As for the email… its a 3rd person emailing a 2nd person whose name has been blacked out “alleging” that the 1st person is charging US$ 40,000 without any kind of proof!!! Any way… surely not many farmers in India are able to pay that much by any stretch of imagination…
See below link: A Billion Go Hungry Because of GMO Farming: Vandana Shiva
youtube.com/watch?v=vbIQF72IDuw
Hi buddingfarmer,
I don’t think Shan is advocating GMO. He is calling out that Vandana Shiva’s life style is not consistent with the supposed advocacy.
That said and even if the allegations are proven, I agree with g.p.rao garu that personal life beyond their core philosophy does not necessarily dilute their cause. Many times, and not knowing the merit of this case, eminent people have their weaknesses too.
Thanks.
Dear Sri Dr Chandra , well said sir. So happy as I am walking in a right track. With best wishes to all the forum friends, g.p.rao, farmer.