Bt brinjal, as genetically modified aubergine is known in India, has been stopped by the minister in charge for the time being. He should ban it forever. Bt cotton was a disaster. The seeds were expensive and the pesticide marketed by the same company was very expensive causing the farmers to take loans in the expectations of bumper crops and profits. Unfortunately the cotton plants may have been resistant to boll weevil but were not resistant to fungus so yields were poor. In any event cotton is a commodity and if every country has a bumper crop the price crashes. Lots of farmers committed suicide. Now we are being asked to cultivate a food plant. As usual the freeloading press is not discussing the major concern and that is whether Monsanto, a US company should be controlling food production int the country. Since Monsanto has the patent it will have monopoly rights thus having a stranglehold on aubergine production. These plants are modified not to produce seeds, the so called terminator technology which was invented by the defence department of the US government. So every year farmers will have to buy seeds from the company. In the long term natural varieties of the plant will die out and the only aubergine available will be from Monsanto. The US is just testing the resolve of the Indian people. Once we give in we will forced to take all food items from Monsanto including wheat and rice. That day India will become a slave country of the US. Not only should we refuse to allow any foreign company control of food production but we should pass a law making it an act of war punishable by hanging. For once our politicians should show some spine.