1500 Indians commit suicide and no news - Wow !!!

Lat night, it was found that in the midst of the current elections in India up to 1500 local farmers in the state of Chattisgarh committed suicide after protesting against the recent crop failures and an inability by the Government to end the crises.

Mr Sahu lives in a district that recorded 206 farmer suicides last year. Police records for the district add that many deaths occur due to debt and economic distress.

In another village nearby, Beturam Salim, who owned two acres of land was among those who committed suicide. His crop is yet to be harvested, but his son Lakhnu left to take up a job as a manual labourer. His family must repay a debt of £400 and the crop this year is poor. "The crop is so bad this year that we will not even be able to save any seeds," said Lakhnu's friend Santosh. "There were no rains at all."

Some of the comments we have received at tspoonfr offices today highlighting this tragedy

This is well said, but the other comments about corruption ring true and loud. The national and local politicians are all corrupt, as are the factories moving into the fields, forcing farmers out. The problems are deep, and growing. Nothing happens without bribing someone.

This is one of the most ironic stories out of India. You have to spend some time there to see how religion has deprived the entire society of what we in the West would call progress. Their government is corrupt; nepotism and star power rule. The amount of people staggers the imagination 1500 farmers committing suicide is population relief and retroactive birth control.

The irony is that they have been duped by a western concept of carpet bagging or slave control. One of the only western ideas that they put into practice.

This article doesn't mention the effects of genetically engineered seeds sold to farmers and the contracts they are forced to sign prohibiting from saving 'patented' seeds. This article doesn't mention BT cotton. This article doesn't mention what happens when farmers are lured by necessity to grow unsustainable products, and when the crops fail,or when their water becomes so polluted or non-existent (Coca-cola), they are forced to abandon their land, or leave quietly their lives.

Monsanto Corporation is interfering in traditional farming practices all over the world, by polluting the genetic make-up of cultural diversity in seeds. Monsanto promotes pesticides which cause cancer, birth defects, and the poisoning of ground water and air. Monsanto isn't mentioned in the article above. Why is that?

I completely agree with your assessment of the effects of Monsanto's genetic manipulations. There is only one word to describe this company, and that is EVIL plain and simple. The negative effects of their contamination of our planet with their genetically modified organisms will be with us for many generations, and yet they are allowed to continue on. They are able to pursue this madness because a group of people with some authority decided that life forms could be patented, and that gave birth to the whole concept of a corporation that can own a life form. Although many other corporate entities exploit and damage the environment and ruin people's lives in their insatiable greed for more money, the long term results of Monsanto's efforts to control life forms will, I believe, become a nightmare of gigantic proportions. I don't think enough people realize the dangers we face, or Monsanto would be stopped. I would encourage anyone who cares about the future of our species on this planet to act to stop the uncontrolled and unregulated genetic manipulation of life forms by for-profit corporations.

I also hope that the farmers of India can find a way to eliminate genetically engineered crops from their land rather than choosing to commit suicide. I might add that the article did not explain exactly what prompted these suicides beyond the crop failures. Surely it would be better to remain alive and actively seeking solutions to these problems, one would think. I also realize however that if the circumstances were more thoroughly explained, it might make more sense. Evidently these people felt there was no other way. Still, I feel certain that they would be more valuable alive than dead.

tspoonfr