Resist
Bio-Imperialism
By Vandana
Shiva and Ratheesh Kaliyadan
Driven by the
world bank and world Trade organisation, water- our common life support
is being privatised, commodified and destroyed. The Doha declaration
of the WTO is an attempt to privatise water by forcing removal of all
tariff and non tariff barriers to trade in environmental success
we reject free trade in water which is destroying water wealth and robbing
being of water Water can not be owned, controlled, exploited bought
and sold by a handful of multi national corporate like Coca-Cola, Pepsi,
Suez, Vivaldi, Bechtal etc. No government has the right to give rights
to corporate to rape the earth and make profits out of destroying life.
What about
the central Government decision to link water bodies?
We condemn the
Governments ecologically devastating plan to link Indias
rivers for 200 billion dollars. The river linking project
should be called the river privatisation project we will
not let our
rivers be privatised. We will undo the logic of Privatisation of water
through our movements and our
moral strength. Owning and selling water is perverse and non-sustainable.
We will liberate our rivers and water from the corporate. Privatisation
means water wars. We want justice we want sustainability we want peace.
How war against
Iraq is connected with water issues?
War against
Iraq is war against the world. It is the imperial greed with which while
Iraqis were bombed, killed and the water systems destroyed. The first
thing they had done was, destroyed water systems, US corporate like
Bichetl were already being given contracts for water. Control over food
and water is part of Imperialism, which decide the economy as a genocide
.So anti-globalisation movement is anti militaristic movement.
Is it connected
with internal militarisation also? Is it relevant in Gujarath carnival?
Religious fundamentalism
is an imperial agenda, which is practiced by Sangh parivar in India.
It was the old British strategy, applied to divide and rule . The same
is part of globalisation today. Mr, Bush is part of religious fundamentalism.
The Gujarath carnival acted as a smoke screen to activate anti Swadeshi
policy. Gujarath is a mask to support WTO. BT Cotton, water policy and
patent right act are examples. The agricultural agreement loots our
food, the property rights agreement loot
our bio diversity and the general trade agreement loots our water. This
is not Swadeshi , but stifling Swadeshi . BJP destroyed the term. They
should be banned to use the term and let the people to useSwadeshi.
What is the
relevance eof local resistance like that of Plachimada in resisting
global agenda?
At the front line of the struggle against one of the worlds biggest
corporate giants, Coca-Cola, something holds the tribals together. It
is the relationship with their land and water. Just as Gandhi put Dandi
on the map of world history, a little hamlet of tribals in Plachimada
put on the map in defense of the earth and in resistance to corporate
monopolies over life itself our bio diversity and seeds, our
water and our food. It is the real freedom movement- ­freedom
for the earth beginning with the adivasis, the first people.
To the global corporations, to the WTO, to the world Bank and to the
Governments which act in Partnership with these corrupt
companion and organisations we say the world is not for sale
we commit ourselves to the protection of bio diversity and water as
Commons to which local comities belong. Resist privatisation
of bio diversity through patents and privatisation of water through
Private public partnerships we will not accept this
new imperialism and hydro dictatorship.
(Ratheesh Kaliyadan is an Indian Journalist,who
specialises in Environmental Reporting)