I was re-reading a wonderful book last night by David Cromwell of @medialens fame, from 2013, "Why are we the good guys: Reclaiming your mind from the delusions of Propaganda"
I knew I had seen a section in it regarding India and set out to find it back...on a hunch. I was right.

Under a heading, "The latest 'success stories' of Capitalism", India was stated as being held up by the media, supporters of Capitalism, as a shining example of success. Pretty sure we can all agree that this is same media narrative 8 years later. (Same goes for China)

The fact is that "Neoliberalism" always has a downside, because when one group in society makes gains, another group always loses. Something the Corporate media forgets to mention when they talk of "Huge Successes". In 2007 India ranked 128 in the Human Development Index UNDP

(United Nations Development Programme). So India was in bottom 50 of the 177 nations in the study. El Salvador was 25 places above even after 10 years of bloody warfare and even Bolivia was 11 places above India. In 2020, despite 20 years of Neoliberalism, India ranks 131

Progress for India? All of it? Well not exactly, unless of course you take into consideration the Dollar Billionaire rankings. In 2006, India was in 8th position with 22 Billionaires, in 2019 it was 102. Even during the 2008 Financial crash India went from 27 to 52 Billionaires

As a tiny number of very fat cats snapped up Luxury Yachts ands Palatial homes, India's farmers were suffering an epidemic of Suicides conservatively estimated as 250,000 by Vandana Shiva director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology who stated...

...This was as "a direct result of deliberate policy imposed by the World Trade Organisation and implemented by the Government. It is designed to destroy small farmers and transform Indian agriculture into large-scale corporate industrial farming"
This from 2013 - strike a chord?

This desperation was caused by crippling debt from rising production costs and falling prices, both linked to corporate Free Trade ideology and imposition of Hybridisation and expensive GM seed that has to be purchased every season and cannot be saved.

Having opened the door to full and deliberate corporate monopolistion of Seed/Crop productions that we have seen everywhere around the world where US Agri-Bizz has gained a foothold. Desperate Indian farmers tried to save themselves with cash crops like GM Cotton. A big Mistake.

John Pilger noted the slogan of ‘Shining India,’ invented by an American advertising firm, disguised the end of any pretence social justice. ‘Monsanto and Pizza Hut, Microsoft and Murdoch were invited to enter what had been forbidden territory to corporate predators.

"India would serve a new deity “economic growth” and be hailed as a “global leader heading in what the smart money believes is the right direction" Pilger continues: ‘Despite a growth rate of 6.9 per cent and prosperity for some,

"More Indians than ever are living in poverty than anywhere on earth, including a third of all malnourished children. Save the Children says that every year two million infants under the age of five die.’
But hey, India boasts a couple of hundred new Billionaires now.

Just reward for 2,000,000 dead children?
Now, 8 years on from when this book was written the corporate controlled government of India is under attack from those same Farmers for all the same reasons, to the point where the Indian government go into full attack mode ...

... on any westerners that dare to criticise them or support the farmers.
GM Crops are not sustainable, neither is intensive agriculture that relies on Oil Base mechanisation and Fertilisers/Pesticides
Of course this battle isn't about Agriculture at all is it......