It was the biggest line-up of farmers’ organisations and they came to Delhi from all parts of the country with one clear message: they did not want to grow the genetically modified (GM) version of one of the country’s most popular vegetable, the brinjal. The leaders looked mild enough but they said they would resort to “direct action ” if their voice was not heard and they said they represented 200 million farmers in the major brinjal-growing states.
Even as work on border road construction in Jammu and Kashmir was stopped after Chinese objection, Arunachal Chief Minister Doorjee Khandu has asserted that his government will not succumb to any such pressure.