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Satyagraha, or non-cooperation or passive resistance, did not begin with Mahatma Gandhi. As Gandhi acknowledged, he did not 'invent' satyagraha, he learnt it from the people of India. The contemporary movements against apartheid, separation on the basis of religion and race, are a continuation of the spirit of Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. For Gandhi, satyagraha, the force of truth, was the force not to cooperate with unjust laws that called for a 'no' from our deepest conscience. The Champaran Satyagraha against the forced cultivation of indigo and the Salt Satyagraha against the colonial salt law inspired us at Navdanya to start the Bija Satyagraha, which is the Seed Freedom Movement. These seeds have been given freely by nature and by our ancestors who have evolved them. It is our duty to save them and our biodiversity. Navdanya does not cooperate with laws that falsely claim that corporations have 'invented' seeds and therefore can take a patent on them: such unconscionable laws aim to criminalise a farmer's saving and robs them of their seed freedom.

This article is an eco-feminist approach to understanding sustainability and social change, and engages with issues such as why the homogenization of crop production is dangerous, why it is the multinational corporation seed industry that needs regulations and not the small farmers and how colonization is taking place through seed patents. It also documents the Navdanya movement for the protection of biological and cultural diversity, raises concerns about the ecological and health impacts of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), addresses the issue of farmers' suicide in India after the introduction of Bt cotton in the country, addresses the ongoing fight against the US seed giant Monsanto for the illegal and unauthorized manner in which GMO has been introduced in India, and highlights farmers' rights vis-à-vis the seed.

The author describes her experience as an indigenous rights activist in India. The author and her mother founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, which advances the rights of Indians, and in particular women, in the fields of aquaculture and agriculture. The author's work has contributed to the global movement working against the use of genetically engineered crops. Reductionist science and technology act as handmaidens for economically powerful Western interests. Unrestrained biotechnology development gives new tools for economic manipulation and exploitation. The rights of farmers to save their seeds and grow their own crops has been compromised by Western free trade and globalization. Farmers have now become the consumers of costly seeds and chemicals sold by powerful global corporations. Monocultures and uniform planting also increase the risk of crop failure. Adapted from the source document.