A delegation of 25 farmers from India, Indonesia and Bangladesh, members
of the International peasant movement La Via Campesina, protested today
in front of the Indian Embassy in Hong Kong. They shouted: "Indian
Commerce Minister should go back home", "WTO Dow, Down Down" and "Those
who harm farmers will starve".

The Indian Consul received the memorandum handed over by the delegation
and promised to give it to the Ambassador and the Commerce Minister. He
told the protesters that they were doing the right thing.

The two pages memorandum states that: "In the last 10 years of
liberalization and implementation of the WTO and Agreement on Agriculture,
the Indian agriculture and small and marginal farmers have been
drastically affected by its export oriented and peasant insensitive
policies. More than 25,000 farmers have committed suicide in India over
the past years because of the agrarian crisis".

La Via Campesina protesters demands include "WTO out of agriculture" and
"No Deal". They call the WTO policies a failure to help farmers and people
around the world.