Re: AIDS has struck the hardest in India’svillages

[Guest guest]

Moderators note:

Let me congratulate the effort taken by Debiprasad Halder to write an

ethnographic note on sex work as a response to the message appeared on this

FORUM. As an unusual practice, the moderator of this FORUM would like to go on

record to express serious concerns about naming, an economically and culturally

vulnerable and marginalised community as a “community of sex workers”. Ethics of

Naming communities as communities of sex workers need to be carefully examined

by the " researchers " . Such “research reporting” violates the rights of " Perna "

'Nat' and 'Bazigar' communities.

And the most disturbing part of the following note that’ to substantiate such

unethical research, one has to rely on a 1916 colonial administrators scrap

book.! (Ibbetson, 1916 'Tribe and Caste of Punjab'). `Punjab Castes', Sir Denzil

Ibbetson, 1916, part of `Panjab Ethnography', Simla, 1883 (Report on Census of

1881, Punjab); reprinted in `Landmarks of Indian Anthropology', Vol. 17., Cosmo

Publications, New Delhi 1987

One of the lesson we have learned in our fight aganist HIV/AIDS is that

stigmatizing and naming communities will not reduce their HIV vulnerability. A

public policy and program response which respects the rights of vulnerable

communities will reduce their HIV/AIDs vulnerability. " Perna " 'Nat' and

'Bazigar' communities deserve that right.

Joe

Moderator

ADS-INDIA e FORUM

______________

Dear Moderator,

In your published report few statements are correct in all respect and in

context of 'community and sex-work' I have received same information during

conducted research on some of the SC and OBC groups those who are raditionally

practices this profession i.e., 'sex work'.

I personally investigate some of the SC and OBC groups in Northern and Western

India and found that a sizeable number of such community people still practices

this profession and among them 'STI' infection rate is very high.

One of such group name is 'Perna'. Here I like to mentioned that one famous

Ethnographer had been wrote that " Perna is a community of Haryana, Delhi and

Punjab. They are gypsies who are exceedingly similar to the 'Nat' and 'Bazigar'

(few of them are SC or OBC in Northern and Central Indian state-list) but who

unlike the 'Nat', reportedly, would force their women in " flesh-trade "

(Ibbetson, 1916 in his book 'Tribe and Caste of Punjab').

Earlier and Later also various scholars like Hiralal, Gierson and

Joahadhar had been provided same view of such groups in their research

publications. Many other scholars in the field of Anthropology, Ethnology,

Linguistics and Sociology had been mentioned about such groups ('subaltern) in

different texts and monographs. Even our ancient Sanskrit and Pali text depicted

about these groups " social structure " and " rites of passages " and its

association with profession of 'sex work'. Present day, a few people of 'Perna'

community still living at Premnagar village( Nazafgarh) in Delhi and usually

attend the customers (truckers and their crew members) on Delhi-Gurgaon Highway

which is near to their village. My view on other aspects is same as you write

and I hope all ' members ( rational thinkers) would support of your few

comments in this text.

With regards

Debiprasad

E-mail: debiph1@...