Anger at the recent ASEAN-India FTA led Kerala residents to take to the streets and form a massive "human chain" -- hundreds of kilometers long -- stretching from one end of the state to another.
The Hindu reports:
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat has termed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) a gross violation of democratic norms and called upon the Centre to review it.
Inaugurating a rally organised before the Raj Bhavan here as a prelude to a mammoth ‘human chain’ linking the two ends of Kerala on Friday, Mr. Karat pointed out that the Centre had not cared to consult the State government before signing the agreement with ASEAN.
ANI:
The agreement, which will be effective from January 1, 2010, calls for tariffs on products to be reduced to zero between 2013 and 2016.
The Communists oppose the agreement saying its would sound the death knell for Kerala's agro-based economy. Addressing a gathering, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said the human chain is a pointer to the growing protest against the free trade pact.
"Kerala is a home of pepper production. If this agreement gets implemented in full in the coming 10-20 years then pepper production will be only a memory that has ever been produced in Kerala," said Karat.
Another
Hindu article has more details about the fears people in Kerala have about the FTA pact. Interestingly, Obama's move against Indian rubber seems to have inspired some Indian protesters:
Some of the provisions of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that India recently signed with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will weaken India’s, and specifically Kerala’s, rubber sector because Malaysia and a few other countries that are a part of the ASEAN will flood the market with their rubber and push Indian rubber out. Kerala’s rubber sector, in particular, will vanish if the free import of rubber from outside India under the FTA is allowed. Pepper, coconut, plantation products and similar commodities which form the backbone of Kerala’s economy will die, too.
When Chinese tyres offered at fabulously cheap rates threatened the American tyre industry, President Barack Obama imposed 30 to 40 per cent duty on the import of tyres in order to save the American tyre industry. The same Obama strategy of imposing heavy import duties to protect the farmers of the State ought to be instantly imposed here. And to that extent, the ASEAN agreement should be made subject to nationalist conditions.
I protested as part of what was called a human chain against the FTA that was organised across Kerala on October 2, out of concern for swaraj, agriculture, and the peasants and workers of Kerala. Why not copy Mr. Obama in this matter: India is readily adopting America in many other matters, after all.
Express Buzz has more about Kerala's fears, and the political dynamic:
Karat said if the agreement comes into effect, the coconut, pepper and rubber farmers in Kerala will be in trouble. “It will spell doom for Kerala’s economy,’’ Karat said.
CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, who presided over the meeting, said even if the government allows ASEAN products won’t be allowed to be sold in Kerala market. “It is a struggle for survival. The huge response this strike received from across the state is an indication that this struggle reflects the sentiments of the people,’’ Pinarayi said.
Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan described how the assurance given by the Union Government with regard to the ASEAN pact signing was not fulfilled.
“It is a class struggle. A ruling class struggle against the peasants, petty producers and traditional industry labourers.
It is a fight between the Centre and the states as well. The Centre had unilaterally signed an agreement which deals with state subjects,’’ said Planning Board vice-chairman Prabhat Patnaik.
Some bloggers' perspectives on the human chain protest gathered
here, and more perspectives in
the next post.
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