Announcement

Professor Nanjundaswamy Passed Away

 
This is to convey the deeply saddening news that Professor M.D. Nanjundaswamy, President of the Karnataka State Farmer´s Association KRRS (Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha), passed away on Tuesday, February the 3rd, 2004, in Bangalore, after a period of severe illness.
Nanjundaswamys death is not just a great loss to the farmers and peasant movement of Karnataka and India, but also for Peoples Global Action (PGA). As those who have participated in the various events of PGA will recall, Swamy contributed tremendously to the emergence and growth of PGA from its founding Conference in 1998, through the Intercontinental Caravan staged the following year, and through the PGAs further internationalist activities.

 
(from a text by Peter Custers,
Director, Bangladesh Peoples Solidarity Centre/
as a member of the Asia Support Group,
Peoples Global Action (PGA)
 
 
February 3, 2004)
 

"Swamy" est mort

Professeur Nanjundaswamy, a mené le mouvement paysan du Karnataka (KRRS) et de l'Inde pendant 30 ans. Membre du comité international de Via Campesina depuis sa fondation, il a inspiré l'Action Mondiale des Peuples (AMP) et le mouvement contre l'OMC et la mondialisation depuis 1997. Il est mort à Bangalore, le mardi 3 février, mais sa Caravane Intercontinentale de solidarité et de résistance chemine toujours dans nos esprits et nos coeurs.
 
PRESS RELEASE, BANGALORE FEBRUARY 3, 2004
 
FARMERS LOSE A LEADING CHAMPION OF THEIR RIGHTS
 
Professor M.D. Nanjundaswamy, a leading and renowned advocate of farmersâ rights, passed away this morning at 7.45 am in Bangalore, Karnataka. He was 68.
Born a native of Mysore in Karnataka, India, Professor Swamy was the son of a farmer turned lawyer and socialist parliamentarian. He was educated in Mysore and Karnataka Universities in Science and Law, and then did post-master's specialisations at the Hague Academy of International Law, and in Constitutional Law at different universities in the then West Germany and France till 1964.
Professor Swamy had a long and illustrious career in academic, public and political life. He worked as Professor of Law in Mysore and Bangalore Universities till 1979, served as a member of the Karnataka State Parliament from 1989 to 1994 as an independent non-party member, and founded the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) in 1980. He achieved renown for his dynamic leadership of the KRRS and his strong position against agriculture and economic policies that threaten the livelihoods and survival of millions of India's small farmers.
KRRS was established in 1980 as a result of crop based farmers organisations at the Taluk (sub-district) and District levels merging togther to fight against the increasing state repression of farmersâ agitations for fair commodity prices, appropriate policy supports and debt relief. By 1983, KRRS had become a formidable organisational and political force, and was instrumental in installing the first non-Congress government in Karnataka. In 1989, KRRS contested in State Legislative Assembly elections and won in two constituencies. In 1990, Professor Nanjundaswamy became a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and shortly thereafter became a prominent Member of the House. During his tenure, he raised vital issues of corruption by prominent politicians of the state and the illegal exploitation of natural resources.
As KRRS President, Professor Nanjundaswamy formulated many direct actions against liberalisation and globalisation, the major ones directed at Cargill seeds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Monsanto transgenic seeds and crops. Professor Nanjundaswamy and KRRS have been vociferous critics of the Dunkel Draft text which led to the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and consistently demanded that India not become a member of WTO; to this day, KRRS demands that India pull out of the WTO (India became a member in 1994, at the very establishment of the WTO).
In 1996 Professor Nanjundaswamy was selected as the South- Asia Coordinator of La Via Campesina, the only international small farmersâ movement in the world committed to upholding the rights of small farmers the world over. Through his association with La Via Campesina, Professorâs Nanjundaswamyâs activities against multinational seed companies acquired greater international visibility.
Professor Swamy was widely respected for his sharp intellect, incisive political analysis and unfailing commitment to the needs and priorities of small farmers and rural communities. He was the Managing Trustee of “Amrita Bhoomi,” an International Centre for Sustainable Development, conserving indigenous seeds and promoting sustainable agriculture.
Professor Nanjundaswamy is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.
 
Comunicado de prensa, BANGALORE 3 DE FEBRERO 2004

LOS CAMPESINOS Y LAS CAMPESINAS DE LA INDIA PIERDEN AL PRINCIPAL DEFENSOR DE SUS DERECHOS

Profesor M.D. Nanjundaswamy, de 68 años de edad, abogado, principal defensor de los derechos campesinos, murio esta mañana a las 7.45 est en Bangalore, Karnataka.
 
El profesor Swamy, nació en Mysore en Karnataka, India, hijo de campesinos llegó ser abogado y parlamentario socialista. Se educó en las universidades de Mysore y de Karnataka en ciencias y leyes, y después hizo especializacion (postmaster) en la academia de Hague de derecho internacional, y en Derecho Político en diversas universidades en la República Federal de Alemania y la Francia hasta 1964.
 
El profesor Swamy tenía una carrera larga e ilustre en la vida académica, pública y política. Trabajó como profesor de leyes en las universidades de Mysore y de Bangalore hasta 1979; sirvió como miembro del parlamento del Estado de Karnataka de 1989 a 1994 como miembro independiente, no de partido, y fundó el Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) en el ano 1980. Él, alcanzo renombre por su dirección dinámica de KRRS y su posición fuerte contra políticas agricolas y económicas que amenazan la supervivencia de millones de pequeños campesinos de India.
 
KRRS fue establecido en el 1980 por organizaciones de agricultores en el distrito de Taluk (sub-districto) y junto con otros distritos se coordinaban para luchar contra la creciente represión del Estado a las movilizaciones campesinas por precios justos, las ayudas apropiadas y la condonación de deuda.
En 1983, KRRS se había convertido en una fuerza de organización y política formidable, y fue fundamental en la instalación del primer gobierno "no-Congreso" en Karnataka.
 
En 1989, KRRS participo en elecciones legislativas de la asamblea del Estado, ganando en dos distritos electorales. En 1990, profesor Nanjundaswamy fue miembro de la asamblea legislativa (MLA) y después, fue miembro prominente de la Camara. Durante su legislatura, él planteó temas vitales en cuanto a la corrupción de políticos prominentes del estado y de la explotación ilegal de recursos naturales.
 
Como presidente de KRRS, profesor Nanjundaswamy impulso muchas acciones directas contra la liberalización y la globalizacion, las principales, dirigidas contra las semillas de Cargill, Kentucky Fried Chicken, las semillas y cultivos transgenicos de Monsanto. El profesor Nanjundaswamy y KRRS han sido críticos del Proyecto de Dunkel que condujo al establecimiento de la Organización del Comercio Mundial (OMC), y ha exigido constantemente que la India no sea miembro de la OMC.
 
Hoy , KRRS exige que la India salga de la OMC (la India volvio ser miembro en 1994, año de la creacion de la OMC).
 
En 1996 profesor Nanjundaswamy fue elegido como Coordinador de Sur-Asia de Vía Campesina, el único movimiento campesino internacional en el mundo que defiende los derechos de los (as)campesinos (as) en todas partes del mundo. Con su afiliacion a la Vía Campesina, las actividades de Professor Nanjundaswamy contra las compañías multinacionales de semillas adquirieron mayor visibilidad internacional.
 
El profesor Swamy es extensamente respetado por su agudeza intelectual, su incisivo análisis político y su compromiso sin falla con las necesidades y las prioridades de campesinos (as) y comunidades rurales. Él, era parte del consejo administratdor de “Amrita Bhoomi”, un Centro Internacional para el Desarrollo Sostenible, que conserva las semillas indígenas y promueve la agricultura sostenible.
 
Un hijo, una hija y su esposa sobreviven al profesor Nanjundaswamy
 
The Hindu: Nanjundaswamy is dead
The Hindu: Nanjundaswamy condoled
Architect of kisan movement in Karnataka passes away
Deccan Herald: Nanjundaswamy dies of cancer
 
 
KRRS merges with AIPJD (Deccan Herald)
M. D. Nanjundaswamy Interview 2002
WTO´s role in price crash being suppressed: Nanjundaswamy (October) (Deccan Herald)
This Budget is blatantly elitist (February 2001)
Indian Farmers against GMOs (June 2000)
Indian Farmers Take War to Europe (IPS, May 1999)
Statement at Cologne G8 Summit (ICC 1999)