Expressing Outrage at the discrimination exhibited by India CCM towards SAMHIC Regional MSM Proposal

[Guest guest]

Expressing Outrage at the discrimination exhibited by India CCM towards SAMHIC

Regional MSM Proposal

Dear Edwidge Fortier, (Edwige.Fortier@...)

This is a mail to express our outrage at the disdain and discrimination that the

INdia CCM have shown towards the SAMHIC regional proposal for scaling up

services of MSM. As a national body that works for the rights of MSM to access

services, live in a situation of non-criminalisationa and non-discrimination,

and have larger numbers of service outlets available, we were hopeful that the

SAMHIC Proposal would plug the huge resource loophole that existed in provision

of MSM services not only in India but across the region.

The conduct of the India CCM has been nothing short of shameful. It has been

secretive to the extent of being non-communicative. It raised a few technical

objections which were explained by SAMHIC representatives in the 10 odd minutes

that they were give to place their proposal [imagine this, for a proposal more

than 1500 pages long, which was circulated to the CCM in advance] before the

CCM. They did not raise any objections to the explanations and raised only 2

small points which were duly explained, and the CCM expressed satisfaction with

the answers.

Now it transpires that without giving any explanation as to the grounds on which

the proposal has been rejected, the CCM has let it be known in a terse one liner

that the proposal cannot be endorsed. Communication with the CCM secretariat

have elicited no response as to the reason. This secretiveness is against the

much cherished oppenness that GFATM advocates. Its also a case of hiding the

internalised homophobia and discrimination by CCM and some of its members.

We urge that the GFATM demands that the transcrips and minutes of the CCM

meeting be made publicly available. We also demand that GFATM should intervene

in this matter to ensure that the real valid and technical reasons for this

rejection be urgently released from the secrect vaults of the CCM Secretariat.

We Demand that the CCM be made accountable to the community concerns that it so

brazenly violates.

Moreover I urge GFATM to take cognisance of the SAMHIC proposal which would most

likely be made now as a non-CCM proposal and decide the matter on its merits,

and set an example that such decisions can be taken in an open and transparent

manner without extraneous considerations like homophobia of individuals.

Best Regards and Thank you,

Aditya Bondyopadhyay

National MSM & HIV Task Force

e-mail: msmtaskforce@...

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