Re: AIDS Widow Stoned to Death in Andhra Pradesh

[Guest guest]

Dear Meera,

I am ashamed even to say I am shocked. One after another these news come

creeping over us and after the initial shock and embarrassment, we are back

to complacency. The problem in Kerala, even after the Presidents

intervention, remains the same. And children one after another are thrown

out of schools and we have no solution for any of them. Now the stoning,

well, what a message for the public how to treat PLWHAs. We always talk

about the heartless West and about the rich tradition of our society. But

when it comes to discrimination we are par excellent, the tradition of

caste system to this modern day underscores it. So to discriminate and

treat PLWHAs like 'Parayas' (what an expression, which is drawn from our

caste system) is easy for us.

We should be questioning the strategy developed by the SACS across India in

instilling fear in the public mind in disseminating the information on

AIDS. All the posters and messages by the SACS did create fear in the

public mind. Added to this the legacy of British prudishness, alias

n morality, which we now uphold as our 'dear' own did all the

damage. Till now the Governments, neither the states nor the Central,

did not come out strongly in dealing with the AIDS pandemic. They hide

behind the 'poor' NGOs in defending the onslaught. The politicians are

worried about their vote banks and keep in cloister. Sex and sexuality

should be central to this programmes but nobody wants to do anything. We

are still debating whether we should have sex education in the schools or

not. Again, all the targeted interventions, which has a content of

discrimination in its policies added fuel to the fire. Sex workers, truck

drivers and construction workers are all enemies of the public. For the

last eight years, we all are pleading to the Government and all the

concerned institutions to decriminalize sex work, but who cares. (Remember

the arrests of NAZ International Activists, Remember the issue of Sangli,

where Sabanam is beaten up, Rember Swpna Gayan of DMSC, beaten up, Remember

the issue of male sex workers of Bangalore, Remember the killings of sex

workers in Kerala and I could write a long list, but all these we brought

to the notice of the Government) But did anyone seriously listened to our

pleas? With this apathy from the side of Government, we, NGOs are bound to

fail. And as a nation we will surpass all others in having an army of AIDS

victims in the near future.

The NACO policy has no treatment for AIDS patients. They say it is too

costly to treat people. The Government has all the money for buying weapons

and now they are planning for a mission to moon. Breed a Kargil War and

there is no dearth of money and see the amount of propaganda to bring

people together to fight. But AIDS, TB, Malaria, no money, poor India is

begging all over. When we see this discrimination and neglect by the

government in treating AIDS patients and through projects ill designed to

handle the AIDS pandemic, which creates fear and hate towards PLWHAs, what

can we say about common people? Shymala Ashok says we, NGOs should also be

responsible, I can understand her spirit. But personally I won't own that

responsibility as we have cried hoarse about these problems for quite long

now. In this forum itself I must have written umpteenth times showing where

our efforts go. So I am pointing my finger squarely at the Government

apathy in addressing these problems. I have seen Haill's letter to

the President and Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, as a citizen of this

country I felt like crying. In this 21st century somebody has to teach us

basic human rights. I must say these are some of the saddest days in my life.

Love

Maitreya

E-mail: <maitreya@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Members,

I am so sad to hear such news, be it Andra incident, Kerala incident!! This is

not acceptable, yet a series of such incidents happening right in front of our

eyes. What is the solution? The ultimate solution is having a respected and

meaningful involvement at all political ,local, national, regional, and

international levels where decisions that affect our lives are being made. How

many more years will it take?? Our efforts are not enough, we need to be more

pro-active and efforts should be much more conscious. We need to take up these

incidents seriously. There is no point of verbal diarrhoea with out much

action!!

Anuradha,

CINI, Kolkata

E-mail: <cini@...>