Joining hundreds of thousands of people at 428 cities in 38 countries, protesters in Bangladesh will march against Monsanto in Dhaka today to raise awareness of the dangers of genetically modified food crops.
Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) and Poribesh Bachao Andolon (POBA) will lead the event, joined by other organisations and civil society members, where the protesters will also stress the danger of using Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup which has been linked to cancer.
A human chain will also be formed in front of the faculty of fine arts at Dhaka University.
In connection with this event, a musical question-and-answer night about the environment and genetic modification in Bangladesh took place last night at Jatra Biroti in Banani.
In 2013, Bangladesh became the first country in South Asia to allow the cultivation of the genetically modified Bt Brinjal, despite the indefinite moratorium imposed on its cultivation in India and a ban on its field trials in Philippines.
The development of Bt Brinjal was aided by Monsanto, a US multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation.
The many indigenous varieties of brinjal in Bangladesh are now exposed to transgenic contamination by Monsanto’s genetically modified version, organisers said in a press release.
The march will also protest the use of Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide Roundup, which is currently used in Bangladesh’s tea gardens. A recent WHO report lists Roundup as a probable cause of cancer.
