05.03.2010 | permalink
The surcharged debate over GM crops and food has blundered into ominous terrain. Do civil society and scientists have the right to question government decisions on deployment of GM crops and foods? If a new draft bill for setting up a national biotechnology regulatory body goes through Parliament in its present form, exercising this right could be at the protesters’ peril. In plainspeak, that’s imprisonment for a minimum of six months and a fine to boot.