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The former Judge of the Supreme Court based in Kochi, V.R. Krishna Iyer has sent this statement:
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) contains some of the measures, which can cripple the position of India and more specifically Kerala’s rubber industry, as Malaysia and a handful of other nations that belong to ASEAN will oversupply the market with their rubber items and thrust the Indian rubber out. The rubber industry of Kerala will phase out if free import of rubber under the provision of FTA is allowed in India. Coconut, pepper, plantation items and other commodities of similar type, which form an integral part of the economy of Kerala, will also vanish.
Barack Obama, the US president, had levied 30 to 40% duty on the import of tyres, when the entry of the cheap Chinese tyres in the US market had become a concern for the American tyre sector. The same strategy, which was adopted by Obama to save the native industry, should immediately be put into effect in India also to safeguard the interest of the state farmers. And to that degree, the ASEAN pact should be made accountable to nationalist conditions.
V.R. Krishna Iyer said he took part in the protest against the FTA that was held across the state of Kerala on October 2, out of his concern for swaraj, agriculture, farmers and workers of Kerala. According to him, when India is already emulating America in so many other issues, why not in this matter it can copy Mr. Obama.
The economics of Manmohan Singh should not fall short of Obama economics. The coconuts from Sri Lanka will be sold in Kerala at cheaper rates than Kerala’s coconuts. That will account for a disgrace. The interest of the nation should come first than the interest of Asia.
One of the dear friends of Mr. Iyer brought his attention to the advertisement relayed by Government of India. The advertisement showed how Indian products will be protected and that FTA will not be a deterrent to the economy of Kerala, which relies heavily on agriculture and fishery items. The ad may convince a casual reader and a common citizen into thinking that the interest of the peasants and fishermen of Kerala will be taken care of. Hence, he discussed with the finance minister of Kerala T.M. Thomas Isaac, who is well known for his intelligence and knowledge in economics and who seemed to convince him by saying that advertisement was nothing more than a piece of misleading exaggeration, that peasants of Kerala are but sure to suffer and that the claimed industrial benefit implied is doubtful. According to Mr. Iyer, in the federal polity of republic nation like this, the spirit of Constitution needs the Indian government to talk over these issues at length with the governments of the state that will be affected. This has not been followed. The financial supremacy of the Union government has abandoned the federal spirit of the economy of India. It is a sad state of affair that the Union Finance Ministry is playing an imperial role, indirectly encroaching upon the interests of the peasantry of Kerala and disregarding the spirit of the federalism of India.
He says, more than dogmatism it is debate that should be given importance in a federal set-up. He went ahead and said that even now a discussion can be organized between the finance minister of state and eminent economists of the country for thorough supervision and scrutiny of the ASEAN pact’s implications for the economy and to gain the views of the peasantry. He urged that we should not disappoint the founding fathers of the country and let down their mission of swaraj and vision. The Hindu
October 4, 2009
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