A giant condom is causing uproar in AP - BBC news

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Thursday, 21 November, 2002, 17:05 GMT

Condom uproar in India assembly

By Omer Farooq, BBC reporter in Hyderabad

A giant condom is causing uproar in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The eight-foot high contraceptive was put on display in the lobby of the state

assembly as part of a campaign to raise public awareness.

Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu wants to mobilise opinion against HIV-Aids.

But some members of the assembly thought the initiative vulgar - despite the

state's position as one of the worst-hit by Aids in India.

Protests against the condom were led by right-wing BJP leader Indrasen Reddy.

He said he and his party were all for a free and frank discussion about Aids and

its causes - but things had gone too far with the giant condom.

Putting such things on display in the state assembly premises, he said, was

against the dignity of the house.

Dire threat But Mr Naidu and other ministers argued they were trying to send the

right message to the people. The chief minister said the condom was not on

display for fun - HIV-Aids was a very serious issue for the state and a question

of life and death for many people. He pointed out that the assembly was a place

to discuss policies and programmes.

And he warned that Aids was spreading so rapidly it threatened the very future

of the assembly, as there would be no voters left if the spread of the HIV virus

were not stopped. Mr Naidu recently issued instructions that the venues of all

public meetings should be decorated with condoms to create awareness among the

people about Aids.

Andhra Pradesh is the second worst affected among all the Indian states, with

the number of HIV positive cases estimated at about 400,000 out of a population

of over 75 million.

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