Harjant Singh, Hartej Singh, Amarjit Singh, Vinod Jyani and Rajneet Singh are "natural' farmers from the cotton belt of Punjab who were here in the Capital today to demand a complete ban on the Genetically Modified (GM) crops and foods in the country. They were among hundreds of farmers and consumers from 15 states of the country who gathered on "protesting pavement' of the Jantar Mantar saying they would not "become guinea pigs in experimentation in the name of GM food and crops', adding that the GM crops were certainly no answer for the country's food security. Protesting under the broad banner of "Coalition for a GM-Free India', they also threatened to step up their campaign by creating a widespread informed debate on the issue. "Till date every research on the GM has been for commercial purpose. GM-crop developers produce data and show it to the government,' says coalition member Kavitha Kuruganti. Kuruganthi is supported by practising physician from Punjab Amar Singh Azad. The question that defies Azad's logic is that how could a crop that is not safe for insects be safe for consumption of human beings. Harjant Singh, a farmer with vast acreage under natural farming in Rai ke Kalan, is clear that the natural course of nature should not be fiddled with by humans. And his point of contention too is that "how is it possible that the GM crop, which is harmful for insects, will not harm the health of consumers'. The protest comes at a time when Indian regulators are considering the applications for (experimental) seed production for Bt brinjal, the first such genetically modified vegetable anywhere in the world with the Bt gene extracted from bacillus thurengiensis in it. On one side are its developers, who says that the Bt brinjal is safe to eat and claim that higher yeilds will add to farmers' income and produce more undamaged food.