EU - India FTA and its impacts on small and marginal farmers.

This is my briefing on the impacts of EU- India FTA and its impacts on Small and marginal farmers in the Briefing meeting on EU-India FTA
with D. Raja, Member of Parliament, India &
Franziska Keller, Member of European Parliament
by the Forum against FTAs 13th November, 2010, Constitution Club, New Delhi.

Please click the link to see the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9MhUO8xR4w

The Indian government has signed, is set to sign or is negotiating close to 30 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), including a few with developed countries like the European Union, the European Free Trade Association and Japan. The EU-India FTA, proposed to be signed by the end of this year, binds India into irreversible commitments in multiple areas like trade in agriculture, industrial goods and services, foreign investment regulations, intellectual property rights, and government purchases.

Many of these commitments go beyond the commitments taken by India in the World Trade Organisation, impose heavy obligations and have the ability to significantly restrict India's regulatory space. It has the ability to significantly impact livelihoods, incomes and other social and economic conditions, including access to food and health.

Further, such agreements are being signed in secrecy, without adequate consultation with stakeholders including farmers, indigenous communities, small industries and businesses, women's groups, food right groups, retailers and even with national parliaments or with state governments. Not only is this undemocratic, but it violates the Federal Structure of the Indian State.

In this context, the Forum against FTAs organised a briefing meeting to raise concerns and interact with Communist Party of India Member of Parliament, D. Raja and Green Party Member of the European Parliament,
Ms Franziska Keller. This is one of a series of 8 clips that give an account of the issues raised during the meeting.

Get in touch/get involved: forum.a.ftas@gmail.com

I tried my best to give an opportunity to Melissa .

Printed from

Dragged to court, teens want to return to Netherlands

Jaya Menon, TNN, Aug 26, 2010, 12.25am IST

CHENNAI: Their reunion had caused quite a flutter in the rustic fishing hamlet near Kanyakumari. But on Wednesday, barely a week after their emotional home-coming, Dutch teenagers, Melissa, 19, and Miquel, 18, were produced before the Madurai bench of the Madras high court following a habeas corpus plea filed by an activist, seeking to help Melissa stay back with her family.

After 14 years, Melissa and her brother Miquel were reunited with their mother Deklaselvam on August 19. Accompanied by their mentors and a volunteer, they arrived in Kanyakumari via Thiruvananthapuram to a tearful welcome by their parents and five siblings. But the reunion turned rather traumatic for Melissa, who pleaded with the Dutch officials, who accompanied her, to permit her to remain a little longer than the scheduled 10 days with her family from whom she had been separated when she was barely five and given up for adoption in The Netherlands. However, when quizzed about her desire to remain in India, Melissa told the bench comprising Justice K Suguna and Justice S Palanivelu that she would like to return to the Netherlands and come back soon to visit her family.

Activists alleged that the teenagers had been intimidated' into agreeing to return to the seaside town of Middelburg in The Netherlands where they now live. The court, however, closed the case based on Melissa's statement that she was going back to The Netherlands on her own, said Madurai-based advocate D Geetha who filed the habeas corpus petition on behalf of S Kannaiyan, who is working for the Netherlands-based Against Child Trafficking.

In his habeas corpus petition, Kanniyan said the girl was being prevented from staying back with her family even for a day and pleaded for a direction to Kanyakumari DSP M Sakthivel and Pieter Verheul, the Dutch volunteer accompanying the teenagers, to produce Melissa in court. "After going through pain and agony throughout her childhood and seeing love and affection in her life after 14 years, she is entitled to enjoy it," he said. But, if Melissa wanted to extend her stay by a month or so, it was up to her to approach the appropriate authority, the court said and closed the case.

Immigration officials point out that since the teenagers were of Indian origin, they could apply for the OCI ( Overseas Citizen of India) card, enclosing their applications with birth certificates, voter IDs of the parents and their adoption documents, which would enable them to stay in India.

Melissa and Miquel were among a few hundred children who were put up for adoption by a Chennai-based agency, Malaysian Social Services, without the knowledge of their parents. Melissa and Miquel, who were five and four years old respectively, were given away in adoption to a Dutch couple who subsequently separated. The children were later placed in a government home in The Netherlands. The adoption racket was busted in 2005, but the case, now handled by the CBI, is yet to see a closure.

Read more: Dragged to court, teens want to return to Netherlands - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6435376.cms?prtpage=1#ixzz104NeNjYk

APPROFONDIMENTO SULL’INCONTRO CON KANNAYAN

Marco is a social activist in Empoli. He is actively involved with INTIFADA social centre. He has written this piece about my visit to the social centre recently in Februry, 2010. I have already posted Angela's note on 2nd April.

Vale la pena spendere due parole su questi fenomeni di “mercato” in quanto questi stanno determinando brutalmente la crisi delle economie e delle popolazioni rurali su scala mondiale.

Questo meccanismo fa si che prezzi alla produzione tendano ad abbassarsi sui valori più bassi a livello mondiale, alla ricerca di un “prezzo unico mondiale ”, livellato sul minimo, cosa che pone fuori mercato gli agricoltori degli stati più ricchi, che non percepiscono più un reddito sufficiente a coprire i costi e slittano verso la dismissione della attività.

Nell'ambito dei paesi ricchi si crea quindi uno spazio di mercato di prodotti di prima necessità (grano, per esempio, che prima era soddisfatto dalle produzioni locali, anzi superato, in quanto eccedentarie) e che ora viene e ad essere occupato da prodotti di importazione a costi bassissimi (lo stesso meccanismo che vediamo nel settore tessile, ad esempio), il che alimenta ancora la crisi dei sistemi agricoli locali.

La progressiva uscita della produzione degli agricoltori “occidentali”, insieme con il loro cronico invecchiamento (degli occupati in agricoltura) e il mancato ricambio generazionale, permette alle grandi imprese transnazionali speculatrici di: 1) accaparrarsi le migliori terre e realtà produttive in dismissione e vendita nei paesi ricchi, essendo queste imprese le sole a poter disporre di soldi per investire 2) organizzare a bassissimo costo produzioni di prodotti alimentari di tradizionale consumo “occidentale”, da vendere ai consueti prezzi di mercato in Occidente, produzioni realizzate però nelle campagne espropriate dei paesi poveri (India , Africa, Cile, Argentina, Cina) o dei paesi ad agricoltura estensiva (Canada, Argentina) , dove in maniera diversificata ma sotto una unica regia procede da tempo l'acquisizione più o meno forzata delle terre produttive e l'espulsione degli agricoltori dalle terre fertili e finanche dai territori rurali (fenomeno di urbanizzazione forzata).

Si realizza così contemporanemente la distruzione dei sistemi agricoli tradizionali (agricoltura di sussistenza) e la loro sostituzione con quelli di tipo estensivo e neo-latifondista, spesso bio-tech (ogm), sistemi sdoganati a livello locale nazionale dalle istituzioni scientifiche asservite e prezzolate dalle ditte multinazionali del settore. A queste inoltre, sempre in cambio della loro disponibilità a produrre investimenti in loco, viene consegnato in maniera assoluta il controllo del sistema dei prezzi al ritiro e la gestione dei costi dei mezzi di produzione, per cui il più delle volte i contadini si ritrovano a essere gravemente indebitati con i fornitori delle materie prime piuttosto che a percepire un reddito capace di sostenere le proprie famiglie.

Ma se è vero che questi fenomeni ci sono tutto sommato abbastanza noti, la novità del contributo di Kannayan e quindi del Movimento Antiglobalizzazione Indiano sta nel fatto aver denunciato che questo tipo di processo di distruzione dei sistemi e mercati agricoli locali, praticato con l'azzeramento dei prezzi al produttore e l'aumento vertiginoso invece delle materie prime necessarie alla produzioni (sementi, fertilizzanti, affitti dei terreni quando non direttamente l'esproprio delle terre ai contadini), realizza nei paesi del terzo e quarto mondo il medesimo processo di dismissione della attività agricola e fuga dalle campagne, e con questo la sostituzione dei fabbisogni alimentari “locali” con produzioni di importazione transnazionale sulle quali applicare fortissimi operazioni speculative.

La rinuncia alle politiche autonome sostenibili di Sviluppo nel settore agroalimentare (Sovranità Alimentare, sopra a tutte), permette lo smantellamento deliberato dei settori alimentari locali di prima necessità (cereali, latte, olio) e la loro sostituzione con prodotti di importazione da paesi terzi (poveri o ricchi) dove il costo risulta ancora più basso (vuoi per produzioni eccedentarie dovute alla coltivazione super-estensiva della monocoltura): questo può spiegare meglio le parole di Kannayan in merito alla crisi Indiana del grano indiano in favore di quello Australiano o del riso delle Filippine, o quella del latte Indiano in favore del latte in polvere eccedentario europeo e nord- americano, o la crisi delle produzioni dell'olio di cartamo indiano in favore dell'olio di palma, di produzione Indonesiana, di pessimo valore alimentare, o ancora la crisi della coltivazione della canna da zucchero indiana in favore delle importazioni dal Brasile.

Si vede così che lo stesso meccanismo di imposizione forzata di un regime di crisi a differenti realtà produttive, sia di agricoltura industriale che di agricoltura di sussistenza, favorendo la dismissione della attività agricola e la fuoriuscita delle popolazioni dai territori rurali, è in grado di produrre enormi profitti alle ditte transnazionali e ai loro agenti locali (governi, istituzioni scientifiche, istituti finanziari, apparati repressivi).

We are for System Change, not Climate cahange.

Angela, a young environmental activist and university student has written this piece and posted in Facebook. She has written this in Italiano.I am posting this as it is in Italiano.
URL: http://www.facebook.com/kannaiyan?ref=profile#!/note.php?note_id=380520552206
English version of the article is also published here.
Kannaiyan

Questo febbraio Subramaniam Kannayan è venuto a trovare la Comunità in Resistenza Intifada di Ponte a Elsa. Kannayan è un’attivista indiano del movimento degli agricoltori del Tamil Nadu ed ha partecipato alle proteste a Ginevra contro il WTO e a Copenhagen contro il Cop15.
È stata un’occasione per tornare a riflettere su importanti temi socio-polico-economico-ambientali.
L’attivista indiano ci ha raccontato le conseguenze in India dei Negoziati di Libero Commercio del WTO (Doha Round), relativi al settore agricolo, negoziati che progressivamente hanno messo in pratica gli enunciati della Globalizzazione, smantellando il sistema dei Mercati Continentali (versioni su scala mondiale riconducibili in qualche modo al nostro Mercato Unico Europeo) con l'abolizione delle tasse doganali (o quanto meno la riduzione a minimi termini di queste ed allo stesso tempo un intervento analogo sui sussidi agli agricoltori, laddove questi esistevano)tra i paesi che lo stipulavano. Questo trattato permette a merci prodotte da multinazionali di paesi industrializzati di essere vendute a prezzi molto bassi in paesi in via di sviluppo. In India, per esempio, viene venduto grano proveniente dall’Australia, zucchero dal Brasile e latte dall’Europa.
I contadini indiani, privi dei sussidi dello Stato e detentori di tecnologie arretrate, contrariamente alle multinazionali, si trovano obbligati a vendere i loro prodotti a prezzi molto bassi. Tutto ciò non gli permette di competere con i prodotti industriali e questo meccanismo finisce per tagliarli drammaticamente fuori dal mercato. Considerando che il 70% della popolazione indiana lavora nell’agricoltura e nel piccolo allevamento, vivendo e sostenendo le proprie famiglie solo con queste,non c’è da stupirsi se i casi di suicidio di contadini crescono vertiginosamente di anno in anno nel suo paese. La terra è un mezzo di sostentamento per coloro che la coltivano, mentre questo meccanismo insano di esportazione di prodotti a basso costo e scarsa qualità permette solo di continuare ad arricchire chi già è ricco e potente, andando anche gravemente a discapito della salute ambientale a causa dei lunghi trasporti che le merci percorrono.
Un altro argomento affrontato è stato quello degli OGM. Kannayan sostiene :<<>>.
Per comprendere questa frase e quanto sia elevato l’interesse delle multinazionali alla diffusione di prodotti OGM, potrebbe bastare sapere che le grandi aziende americane pagano importanti sussidi alle università Indiane per la ricerca sugli organismi geneticamente modificati. Ma non finisce qui. Un seme manipolato in laboratorio, per le sue caratteristiche chimico-molecolari, ha bisogno di un certo tipo di fertilizzante, commercializzato solo dalle multinazionali stesse. Infine una pianta che nascerà da un seme OGM avrà semi incapaci di mettere in atto i meccanismi naturali per la propria riproduzione. Ciò costringe l’agricoltore di prodotti OGM a dover ricomprare ogni anno i semi , creando un meccanismo di dipendenza totalmente a favore delle multinazionali.
Oltre agli importanti interessi economici che ruotano intorno all’uso di OGM, è infine fondamentale considerare che una scelta del genere porta alla perdita della naturale biodiversità dei semi, poichè ogni seme porta in sé la storia del luogo in cui si è evoluta la generazione di piante che lo ha prodotto. Kannayan ci ha ricordato che, se mentre prima in India esistevano oltre 100 varietà di riso, oggi ne esistono solo un 20ina.
L’attivista chiede retoricamente <>
In ultima istanza il nostro amico attivista ci ha permesso di riflettere sulla mancanza di senso che oggi ha l’allevamento industriale di animali a scopo alimentare. È stata una riflessione che al vertice del problema ha messo in evidenza l’immenso sperpero di beni come Terra ed Acqua, utilizzate per coltivare il cibo per il bestiame stesso o presunti biocombustibili (invece di pensare ad energia rinnovabile). L’industrializzazione della carne sta privando il mondo intero di importanti risorse naturali e in cambio fornisce altrettanto importanti prodotti inquinanti, provenienti dalle industrie di allevamento, di macellazione e di trasporti, senza parlare delle scarsa salubrità del prodotto in sé. La posizione ferma di Kannayan è che il cibo coltivato dagli uomini non può essere destinato a sfamare gli animali dei grandi allevamenti, ma deve essere usato per sfamare per gli esseri umani. La coltivazione della terra deve servire per il sostentamento della vita delle persone.
Dal nostro incontro con Subramaniam Kannayan non sono emerse solo denuncie ma anche possibilità alternative che ognuno di noi dovrebbe prendere in considerazione ed abbracciare come proprie. L’attivista insegna : <>. Dobbiamo abbandonare questo modello di capitalismo che si sviluppa promuovendo un consumo sempre più insaziabile, tanto da portare inevitabilmente alla privatizzazione di beni collettivi. Un esempio tra i più eclatanti e recenti in Italia è l’acqua, o il trasporto pubblico, l’istruzione e la sanità.
Dobbiamo sostenere le attività agricole locali e boicottare i prodotti delle compagnie multinazionali, già smodatamente ricche. Il commercio dovrebbe sostenere produttori e consumatori, promuovendo un’attività di scambio diretta tra persone dello stesso territorio, mentre al momento, sotto la logica delle multinazionali, sta dissanguando entrambi. Kannayan sostiene che: <<>>. Dobbiamo abbandonare la convinzione che siano “le cose” a renderci felici e lavorare su noi stessi, unici esseri da cui scaturisce il nostro benessere, con cose semplici e quasi sempre non materiali.



English version of the article

Last February Kannayan Subramaniam has visited the Comunita' in Resistenza Intifada in Ponte a Elsa (Florence, Italy). Kannayan is an activist of the Indian Farmers Movement of Tamil Nadu and had participated in protests against the WTO in Geneva and against the COP15 in Copenhagen.  It was an opportunity to return to reflect on important socio-economic-environmental-Police issues.

The Indian activist told us about the consequences in India of the Free Trade Negotiations in the WTO (Doha Round), relating to agriculture. These negotiations have gradually put into practice the tenets of globalization by dismantling the system of Continental Markets versions on the world scale related in some way to our European Market with the abolition of customs duties (or at least the reduction of these into minimum terms and at the same time a similar operation on farm subsidies, where these exist) between the countries that stipulated them. This treaty allows at goods produced by multinationals in industrialized countries to be sold at very low prices in developing countries. In India, for example, there is the sale of wheat from Australia, sugar from Brazil, and milk from Europe.

The Indian peasants, deprived of state subsidies and holders of backward technologies, unlike corporations, are forced to sell their products at very low prices. All this does not allow them to compete with industrial products, and this mechanism ends up dramatically cutting them out of the market. Considering that 70% of India's population works in agriculture and small scale farming, living and supporting their families by those activities alone, it's no wonder that cases of suicide by farmers grow dramatically from year to year in this country. The land is a means of livelihood for those who cultivate it, and that this system of export of unhealthy products with low cost and poor quality can only continue to enrich those already rich and powerful. And last but not least, the export is so badly at the expense of environmental health, due to the long transport distances involved.

Another topic addressed was that of GMO. Kannayan says: “The control of the farmers' seed, is the control of life in the world.”

To understand this phrase and how high the interest of the multinational spread of GMO products, could be enough to know that American companies pay large subsidies to major Indian universities for research on genetically modified organisms. But that is not all. A seed manipulated in the laboratory for chemical and molecular characteristics, needs a certain type of fertilizer, marketed only by the multinationals themselves. Finally, a plant that will be born from a seed GMO, has seeds incapable of putting in place the mechanisms for their natural reproduction. This forces the farmer of GMO products have to buy back the seeds every year, creating a mechanism dependent totally in favor of multinational corporations.

In addition to the important economic interests that revolve around the use of GMOs, it is then important to consider that such a choice leads to loss of natural biodiversity of the seeds, as each seed carries within it the history of the place where it has evolved to generate plants that produced it. Kannayan reminded us that, while first in India there were over 100 varieties of rice, today there are only a 20th.

The activist asks rhetorically: “Why does the government continues to insist upon using GMO seeds, if the People, consumer or producers, express their opposition to them?”

Ultimately our friend activist has allowed us to reflect on the lack of a sense that today has farming animals for food. It was a reflection at the top of the problem has highlighted the enormous waste of assets such as land and water, used to grow food for livestock, or the same alleged biofuels (instead of thinking about renewable energy). The industrialization of the meat is depriving the world of important natural resources and in return provides equally important pollutants, from industries rearing, slaughter and transport, not to mention the poor health of the product itself. The firm position of Kannayan is that the food grown by men can not be used to feed large herds of animals, but must be used to feed on humans. The cultivation of the land must serve for the sustenance of peoples' life.

From our meeting with Subramaniam Kannayan complaints emerged not only complaints, but also alternative possibilities that each of us should consider and embrace as our own. The activist teaches: “If the consumer culture remains the same, then the system does not change.” We must abandon this model of capitalism that grows increasingly insatiable – promoting a consumption that leads inevitably to the privatization of collective goods. One of the most recent and striking examples is water, or public transport, education and health in Italy.

We need to support local agricultural activities and boycott the products of multinational companies, already excessively wealthy. The trade should support producers and consumers, promoting an exchange directly between persons of the same territory, while at the moment the logic of multinational corporations is bleeding both.  Kannayan argues that: “The main purpose of agriculture should be to feed the world, instead it only feeds large multinational companies.”

We must abandon the belief that they are "things" to make us happy and work on ourselves, only beings from which comes our well-being, with simple things, that are almost always non-material.

This is a brief account of my visit to Italy from 18 to 27th of February,2010.

Arrival in Rome.
I arrived in Fiumicino airport around 5 o clock in the afternoon on 18th February,2010. My dear friends Marco and Manuela received me in the airport with a warm hug. We went to Rome and stayed for a while in the Ya Basta Roma office. My dear friend Miria welcomed me in the office. Later in the evening I started with my anti GM campaigner friend Prof. Altieri in his car to Lecce. We drove to Bari and stayed in a hotel for few hours. After having breakfast in the hotel, we again started to Lecce.
We reached STATI UNITI DEL MONDO, (SUM) association’s farm in Maglie in the morning. Daniela,Gioia, Lucia and Luca of SUM association invited me. SUM association had a close relationship with Pro.Nanjundasamy the great Indian farmers leader. They have this organic farm in Maglie and produce vegetables, olive oil etc and sell their produce to consumers directly in the name of ‘Amruth’. National television Rai Tre reporters were waiting for my arrival. After warm reception, the correspondent interviewed me on GMOs, Farmers condition. They asked me specific questions related to farmer’s suicide and GMOs and also on the recent moratorium on BT Brinjal in India. I told them the strong connection of GMOs to suicide and shared the struggle against GMOs in India.
The interview can be seen in the following link.http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-fef49c6a-56ac-4870-a1e3-beb814a626fa.html?p=0
Conference for GMO free Puglia.People of Puglia region in the southern part of Italy demand that the region to be GMO free. STATI UNITI DEL MONDO, SUM association organised a meeting in Lecce town in the historical Castle. The meeting was organised in association with local municipalities. More than 63 municipalities have declared GM Free and demanded the region to be GM Free. More than 200 people gathered in the castle to listen to various experts who have made presentations on the Genetic Engineering and its ill effects on environment, health and economics. The Lecce administration arranged the castle for this meeting. People told me that G8 meeting was held in this castle. The resource persons explained the gathering that it is impossible to save the bio diversity with the presence of GMOs in the environment. And also the resource persons explained the possible health dangers of GMOs. I have shared the experience of the struggle of the farmers and people of India against GMOs. I told them that people’s movements succeeded in stopping BT Brinjal fr
om introducing for commercial cultivation by a unified fight of farmers, consumers and civil society.
Return journey from Lecce to Rome.
I returned to Rome with my friend Mr.Altieri in his Fiat car. He was driving his car in 120 to 130 km speed. It was beautiful to see the Olive fields and agriculture lands in the southern Italy. There are stone bunds as boundaries and ancient small houses in the both sides of High way.
Terra Terra Market in Forte Prenestino social centre in Rome.
Small farmers and producers have a market in the Forte Prenestino every Sunday. The markets are supporting a campaign called “GENUINO/CLANDESTINO”, which means genuine/clandestine. There is an Italian national network with thousands of consumers visiting these direct markets of the producers and happily buying wine, olive oil, bread, vegetable, fruits, cheese, meat, organic soap, shampoo, pickles, honey etc. Terra Terra ( Land Land) , an association of farmers is facilitating this market in Rome. Each stall is paying 5Euroes to Terra Terra to meet the facilitation cost. This campaign is a revolutionary initiative by Terra Terra and the autonomous movement in Italy, which denounces the labelling regime of the government and promotes the sales to consumers directly by the producers by winning the trust of the consumers. In Italy farmers are around 7% of the total population and the produce of the farmers are controlled and marketed by the big chain of companies in super markets. But, in India, such practice is slowly taking place in the cities and in the rest of the places various layers of small and big traders are controlling the market.
Large number of youngsters and socially conscious people are supporting these efforts. They are buying organic products at comparatively cheaper price. The labelling regime in Italy is mandatory and the same regime helps the corporate to control the market. But, in this market they do not have any label as prescribed are mandated by the government and it is a kind of illegal market in this way. Therefore the products are clandestine (= not legal) as far as for labelling and official certification is concerned, but genuine (= good and healty); and this is the reason of the name. This is people’s market and this concept is spreading fast all over Italy.
Ya Basta, Roma has organised a meeting in this farmers market. As coordinator of South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers movement (SICCFM) I have extended solidarity to Terra Terra and small scale producers for their effort to establish direct linkage with consumers and civil society to market their produce and live in co existence.
Meeting at Casa Loca social centre in Milan.
I arrived in Milan central railway station around 10pm on 22nd Feb,2010. Mauro, Mao and Valentina from Ya Basta Milan received me there. We went to Enzo and Patricia's house. We had a nice dinner there. I went to Casa Loca social centre in the noon and had a nice food from the self governing Kitchen of the social centre. There were university students having food and accessing internet in the social centre. The social centre was nicely painted both outside and inside. The paintings differentiate the social centre from other buildings. This building was squatted by the autonomous movement eight years back. This social centre has a hall, rooms for students, cafe, hall to conduct meetings and a hall to conduct concerts, dances and other cultural activities. This is a place for students and workers to have their food and relax.
A meeting was organised in Casa Loca on 23rd night. The hall was full of people. I spoke on Agriculture, trade and climate as like in Rome and other places. Patricia who is an English professor in the University translated my speech. Empoli
I started from Milan to Empoli by train. I got down in Florence railway station and got another train to Empoli. Daniele of Intifada social centre received me and drove me to a restaurant in his Suzuki swift car. I asked him about the Suzuki Swift car which is considered a small luxury car in India. He said it is not very good car, but cheap car. He praised German cars. We had Kabab in a Pakisthani restaurant. I asked the Pakisthani owner when did he come to Italy. He said four years back. Empoli is a small town. Here large number of Immigrants are living. There are a lot of Chinese shops and restaurants in this town.
Daniele stopped me in front of a shop and, showing me in the foot path wrote by paint showing an arrow mark towards that shop, told me “ He is a dangerous racist Bastard”. That shop keeper is a racist and not employing any immigrants in his job. Daniele told me that the Anti racist movement of the City thrown filth in to his shop and wrote like this in front of his shop.

Intifada social centre is small and beautiful one in Italy. This is my second visit to this social centre. I visited last time in April,2009 with Mauro, representative of Mapuche indigenous people of Argentina and also with Vilma of Ya Basta, Padova. This social centre is interior decorated by volunteers. It is furnished with an office, kitchen, a bar, a meeting hall and a beautiful dinning.
Here also I spoke on Indian agriculture, GMOs and free trade and its disastrous effects, free trade which destructs the livelihoods of Indian farmers. A seven minutes film on South Indian Farmers Action against free trade by blocking the Mangalore forte was screened. Bologna
I travelled by train from Empoli to Bologna. Ms.Neva of Ya Basta bologna received me in the railway station. Neva is working for the rights of immigrants. She told me that to be immigrants without documents is an offence punishable under imprisonments in Italy. She told me that there are special detention camps for the immigrants. Once people from outside and inside the camp together demolished the camp, fighting for the rights of immigrants.
CRITICAL BOOK & WINE, direct market of the independent publisher and winegrower.
There was a meeting and festival of book and wine. This was a four days programme part of Local wine producers, part of the above explained national campaign genuine/clandestine, (the same of the Rome meeting) and small publishers exhibited their books for direct sale. Wines without any commercial brands were directly sold by the wine producers without any brands. This meeting of critical and Book and Wine exhibition held in the TPO social centre.
Here also I spoke on the same subjects. The meeting was attended by more than 150 people.
The social centres:
In all the cities of the meetings with the autonomous movement of Italy and Associazione Ya basta!, the movement has occupied some buildings which are self managed by the movement to develop activities by the people and for the people (Roma – Forte Prenestino, Milano – Casaloca, Empoli - Intifada, Bologna – TPO, Padova – Pedro, and there are many more in many other cities). Social centres are the place where students, workers and Youths meet, have food and discussion. The decision about the struggle and the organization are taken in regular horizontal and open assemblies of the movement, conducted in these Social Centres. In every social centre they have also a kitchen, bar and dinning. They conduct concerts, festivals in social centres. All these events are not always Progressive or revolutionary. Sometimes these concerts and music festivals are an open opportunity to youths to visit social centres and participate in such events. Rivolta is a social centre in Mestre Venice. On 27th February night, they organised a whole night music festival with very high pitch sound. Around 2000 International Youths participated in this festival.

Sherwood Radio in Padova.
In Padova, together with the social centre, they have Radio Sherwood. A meeting was organised in the squatted building of Radio Sherwood on 26th February evening on Water issue. In Italy, there is an attempt under the way to privatise the water resources. I have shared the works of farmer’s movement in India and the struggle against GMOs and destructive free trade. I also shared my experience in Geneva during WTO ministerial in December, 2009, my experience in the climate caravan and in Copenhagen during Cop-15, climate summit. I have shared with them the struggles of civil society in Geneva and Copenhagen. I also shared the strong linkage of trade and climate. The false solutions proposed by the multinational companies and the real solutions demanded by the civil society were also shared in this meeting. I explained about the MNCs which are systematically attempting to control our seeds by penetrating in to the public sector research Institutions like Tamilnadu Agricultural University with help of US Aid funding. I also explained them about the edible oil import from Malaysia and Indonesia which accounts for 65% of the total domestic consumption. Such imports have killed the domestic oilseed production by destroying market. I appreciated Ya basta’s coffee procurement in Mexico directly from farmers by paying reasonable price and selling directly to consumers in Italy as a fair trade. Such trade is a model and not the MNC’s greedy and destructive trade.
Around 75 participants were present including university students and researches. Ms. Vilma a key activist of Ya basta Padova welcomed and facilitated the meeting.

• Dinner after all the meetings in Italy.
We were served delicious dinner with variety of menu including typical local dishes of the respective regions or locality. Dinners were served with fine wine of the region locality.
• My speeches were translated to Italiano language from English.
• In Roma Ms. Mariana interviewed me for il manifesto paper, which is a left and progressive paper in Italy. She wrote an article about alternative agriculture market which was published on 27th of February 2010.
• On the way to Lecce from Roma, I saw the grass and plants dried in the both sides of the High way. Prof. Altieri told me that they spray Round up to kill the weeds.