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In his address to the rally, ProfNanjudaswamy said the KRRS's seedscampaign was aimed at protecting the rights of farmers not only in Indiabut also worldwide, as sovereignty of nations and peoples over their seedswas the basis for food security and national development.

The Dunkel Draft must be rejected, he said, as it would effectively removecontrol of seeds from the farmers and transfer it to the multinationalcompanies. Even if the government were to sign an agreement grantingintellectual property rights on seeds and biological materials to corpora-tions, the KRRS would counter this by setting up community-based seedbanks in the villages of different districts and promote the exchange anduse of the farmers' own seeds.

At the end of a rally addressed by prominent leaders of farmers' unionsfrom several states in India, the farmers raised their hands and took apledge to protect their "sovereignty over our seeds." They also waved inthe air their green shawls, symbol of the KRRS farmers' movement, toshow approval of eight resolutions read out by their leader Prof Nanju-daswamy which included calls to reject the Dunkel Draft agreement of theUruguay Round, to fight the patenting of agricultural seeds and plantresources and to oppose the entry of multinational companies in Indianagriculture.

The rally, held at the large Cubbon Park, also adopted an alternativeaction programme. The programme includes continuation of the freeexchange of seeds between Third World farmers, the blocking of anoutflow of biological wealth from the South through direct action, and theprotection and development of "community intellectual property rights"of the farmers.

It was also announced that the Karnataka farmers had decided to establishan international research centre with the cooperation of scientists in orderto help develop community seed banks and to protect the intellectual rightsof the communities for which Rs.17,000 was donated by the farmers atvenue of the meeting.

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National Alliance ofPeople's Movemen.ts

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'":31 STUGGLE NOTES

In the meeting of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)held in New Delhi on October 7 and 8, 1993 the following decisions weretaken:

I. Intervention in the forthcoming Assembly Elections: Realising that theassembly elections will set pace for the next general elections and that thereal issues affecting the majority of the people and the future of thecountry like the Dunkel Draft, new economic policy, communalism, cor-ruption and criminalisation' of politics and displacement of toilers fromland, water and forests and oppression of dalits, women and weakersections of the society, the NAPM decided to intervene in the elections byissuing an appeal to the voters, candidates and the parties, and educate thepeople by various methods.

2. Opposition to the Dunkel Draft: (i) Rallies and demonstrations will beorganised by different constituents of the NAPM against the Dunkel Drafton Dec 3, 1993 at the state capitals.

(ii) In case the government of India decides to sign the DD, a massivedemonstration and rally will be organised at Delhi on March 3, 1994followed by the declaration of civil disobedience.

Appeal to the Voters, Candidates and POlitical PartiesIn the conference of the National Alliance of People's Movements,NAPM, held in New Delhi on October 7 and 8, 1993, the importance of

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the forthcoming state assembly elections in the states of UP, MP, Rajast-han, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi was considered. It was felt that theseassembly elections will set pace for the next general elections. It was alsofelt that the real issues which are affecting the majority of the people andthe future of the nation, are bypassed. The country is going to the polls ata critical time when major issues like the Dunkel Draft, the new economicpolicy and religional politics are facing the largest democracy and thepeople's mandate on this will set the direction for the future of our nation-state. It was, therefore, felt that this is an opportune and historic moment,when the National Alliance can enter into a dialogue with the voters,candidates and the parties involved in the election.

The National Alliance of People's Movement denounces:

1. The new economic policy that marginalises and dispossesses themajority of the people ofIndia, and compromises our sovereignty.

2. The Dunkel Draft which will subjugate our autonomy in the areas ofagriculture, fisheries, phar.naceuticals and service-sector, etc.

3. All attempts to create a theocratic state which will destroy the basicfabric of Indian constitution, diverse cultures and religions.

4. Market and growth-centered, unsustainable, unjust developmentparadigm and projects that favour a small consumerist section and displacepeople in large numbers and destroy our national resources.

5. Criminalisation of politics which forces people to keep away fromdemocratic participation and democratic culture.

6. Wide-spread corruption that destroys the integrity of judiciary, bank-ing, defence, public administration, public education institutions, etc.

7. Oppression of dalits, tribals, women and other weaker sections of oursociety.

NAPM stands and struggles for the:

1. Assertion of peoples power which alone can create a basis for new,democratic political and economic institutions in the country.

2. Indian sovereignty which needs to be protected from the new economicpolicy, the Dunkel Draft and multinational onslaughts and establishing ourown autonomy in agriculture, fisheries, pharmaceuticals, etc.

3. Right to life to every human being to be protected through toilers' andcommunities, right to land, water and forests.

4. Development model that establishes the dignity of human labour andvalue of national capital, and deploys science and technology without anycompromise on sustainability and justice.

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5. The federal character of our nation-state which has been established byour diverse cultures, languages and religions. .6. Re-establishing respect for every human being irrespective of gender,caste and creed.

We appeal to the candidates and the political parties to announce theirstand on the above issues and incorporate those they agree with, in theirmanifestoes. Let them be accountable to the people by bringing to theelection platform these issues that reflect immediate and long-termconcerns of the masses and not others which would once again demon-strate value-less and power-hungry politics. We appeal to the voters to testthe candidates on their stand taken with regard to real issues and vote onlyfor those who have taken a firm stand against the new economic policy,the Dunkel Draft, communalism and corruption.

The appeal has been made by the following representatives of the constitu-ent movements of NAPM.

Sunder Lal BahugunaDrB D SharmaKishan PatnayakThomas KocheryMedha PatkarAbdul Jabbar

Himalaya Bachao AndolanBharat fan Andolanfan Andolan Samanwaya SamitiNational Fish Workers' ForumNarmada Bachao AndolanBhopal Gas Peedit Mahila UdyogSangathanChilika Bachao Andolanfan Vikas AndolanSocialist FrontGanga Mukti AndolanAzadi Bachao Andolan

ChitranjanOm Prakash Rawal

Ajit JhaAnil PrakashProf Banwari Lal Sharma

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AWARDS

Recognising Women's Courage in Crisis and Conflict

The 1993 Right Livelihood Award ofUSD 200,000 was shared by fivewomen, or women-led movements, who have made outstanding positivecontributions in situations of crisis or conflict:

1. Arna Mer-Khamis (Israel) and the organisation Care and Learningwhich she founded in Jenin (Occupied Palestine) for "passionate commit-ment to the defense and education of the children of Palestine victimisedby military occupation". Recent events offers hope that her work mayserve as a model contribution to a real reconciliation between the Palestianand Israeli peoples.

2. The Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress (ORAP) in Zim-babwe, eo-founded by Sithembiso Nyoni, "for motivating its millionmembers to chouse their own development path according to their' cultureand traditions, and for its effective response to the most lengthy drought inSouthern Africa".

3. Vandana Shiva (India), environmental activist, advocate and researcher,78 for "her pioneering insights into the social and environmental costs of the

dominant development process, and her ability to work with and for localpeople and communities in the articulation and implementation of alterna-tives". Shiva has done much to place women and ecology at the heart ofmodern development discourse.

4. Mary and Carrie Dann of the Western Shoshone Nation of NorthAmerica, for "their courage and perseverance in asserting the rights ofindigenous peoples to their land". For over twenty years the Dann sistershave been at the forefront of their people's struggle against the attemptedexpropriation of their land by the V.S. Government and its degradation bymining and nuclear testing.

The Awards were presented in the Swedish Parliament on December 9th,the day before the Nobel Prize presentations. These Awards were intro-duced in 1980 "to honour and support those offering practical andexemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today". Theidea came from Jakob von Uexkull, a Swedish-German philatelic expert,who sold his valuable postage stamps to provide the original endowment.Von Uexkull felt that the Nobel Prizes have become too narrow andspecialised and ignore much work and knowledge vital for the survival ofhumankind.

Those desiring further details may write to us at Lokayan.

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Kandla March

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Rajni Bakshi

Senior Sarvodaya workers gathered in the shadow of 'Hridaykunj' atSabarmati Ashram, Ahmadabad, for a two day collective fast (SamuhikUpvas) on September 30, and October 1, 1993. Amid the ever busy squir-rels which now lend life to the environs of Bapu and Ba's one time home,the veteran Gandhians prepared for another salt satyagraha. The 'atmashudhi' and 'atma chintan' (self-purification and self-reflection), implicitin the fast, were a prelude to a proposed month-long march.

On Mahtama Gandhi's 124th birthday, after a commemorative prayermeeting in the morning, about a 100 people set out for Kandla in theKutch region of Gujarat. It was the first time in years that Sarvodayaworkers from different parts of India had gathered for a joint action on aspecific issue. The march was intended to raise public awareness andprotest against the American multinational Cargill's proposed salt manu-facturing project at Kandla.

The march was launched inspite of Cargill's statement, in the GujaratHigh Court, that it was abandoning the Kandla salt project. Cargill hadnot however clarified whether it was also withdrawing its application for along term lease on 15,000 acres of land at Kandla port. The marchtherefore started as planned, pending official clarification of the matter.

Some of the Sarvodaya workers present expressed the view that the marchshould run its full course because it was not merely concerned withCargill's salt project but was symbolic of the nation-wide struggle against

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