Islamic priests to help fight AIDS in Kashmir

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Islamic priests to help fight AIDS in Kashmir

Tue Apr 30, 9:56 PM ET .By Sheikh Mushtaq

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - Hundreds of people listen in rapt attention as a

priest delivers a sermon in an Islamic school ringed by mountains in

Jammu and Kashmir .

Another day in the life of the country's only Muslim-majority state?

Not quite. The priest isn't teaching people the basic tenets of Islam

but discussing AIDS, the deadly disease spreading rapidly through the

country.

The sermon is the first step in a campaign by the state government to

draft Islamic scholars and priests to help build awareness about AIDS

in the revolt-racked Himalayan state where authorities estimate the

number of HIV positive people at 25,000, of a total population of 10

million.

The number is up 50 percent from four years ago but that is still

just a small fraction of the 3.8 million people suffering from AIDS

or infected with the HIV virus in India.

Many Kashmiris believe a 12-year-old revolt in the disputed region,

which has killed 33,000 people, has also kept AIDS out of the scenic

Valley. " It is a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, with tourist flows

from the west, Europe and the plains of India, AIDS could have

reached every nook and corner of the valley, " Sharif-ud-Din, a

teacher, said.

With its snow-capped mountains, pine forests, and blue lakes Kashmir

was once a major tourist destination in Asia.

But the number of tourists plunged to 72,000 last year from more than

half a million at the start of 1990 after a rebellion began in 1989

as a dozen groups fought for independence or merger with neighbouring

Pakistan.

GOD'S WRATH

Kashmir wants to keep AIDS from spreading.

In his sermon, the priest avoided any mention of the use of condoms,

but warned instead of Allah's (God's) wrath on those who indulge

in " fornication, adultery, sodomy and immorality " to focus on

building awareness of AIDS.

" These are the main reasons for AIDS. If we abide by the rules and

regulations laid by Islam and the Prophet, AIDS will not touch us, "

Mohammad Maqbool Shah, a Muslim priest, said.

The words of imams, or Muslim priests, carry more weight than any

television commercial or leaflet among the devout. The priest also

distributed booklets entitled " AIDS: A dangerous disease and Islamic

way of protection. "

Mian Altaf Ahmed, minister for health and medical education in

India's state of Jammu and Kashmir, told Reuters the government plans

similar seminars with imams in every district.

" The involvement of imams in the AIDS awareness campaign is showing

wonderful results, " he said.

AFRICAN EXPERIMENT

India, the world's second most populous country with one billion

people, has the second-largest AIDS population after South Africa,

where about 4.7 million people live with the disease. The Indian

government has launched a nationwide project to build AIDS awareness

but faces a social and cultural battle because of the enormous stigma

attached to the disease.

AIDS has spread from traditionally high-risk groups such as

commercial sex workers, drug users and homosexuals to large rural

swathes and urban areas with huge migrant populations. Officials in

Kashmir said they were inspired by an experiment in Africa to involve

religious leaders in efforts to check the disease.

" In northeastern Africa, an area overwhelmingly inhabited by Muslims,

AIDS was negligible. It reflects that in an Islamic dispensation,

AIDS chances are very few, " Muneer Masoodi, a doctor and member of

the Jammu and Kashmir AIDS Control Society, said. Islam encourages

marriage and polygamy and strongly warns against indulging in

adultery. " Islam has allowed polygamy to restrain people from

committing adultery. If we follow the guidelines laid down by the

holy Quran and most revered Prophet, AIDS cannot harm us, " Mufti

Nazir Ahmad, a prominent Kashmiri religious scholar, said.

The government-sponsored Jammu and Kashmir AIDS Control Society is

also organising seminars on AIDS in Kashmir. " I keenly listened to

every imam and after listening to them I am convinced priests and

scholars can play a major role in fight against AIDS, " said Mushtaq

Ahmad, a paediatrician.

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