HIV/AIDS Work a curse on society : Lucknow Court

[Guest guest]

Hi,

We were refused bail in the CJM's court who after listening to us explain the

HIV context in which we work, was of the opinion that the activities of the

accused is like a curse on society. So he claimed in his order of rejection of

bail. I wonder how many more of the judiciary feel that HIV/AIDS work is like a

curse on society. I am convinced that we would not really have to wait very long

to overtake south africa in gaining that unique distinction of being the nation

with the most HIV positive persons. Every arm of the state is conspiring to help

us gain that distinction. And I also wonder where all the sloganeering and

public campaign on HIV awareness undertaken by NACO and the various state AIDS

societies have taken us if this is the sentiments that judges have to display.

Now the sessions court have also rejected our bail application and we have to go

to the High court. That means at least two more weeks of incarceration for our

friends. And when I think that their crime is that they attempted to save lives

of a vulnerable population segment, that they belived that everyone had a right

to a healthy life and to information that would keep them healthy and safe, then

each day of their confinement piles another brick of shame on my head.

A shame that I feel at having to call myself a citizen of a supposedly liberal

democratic progressive nation, that can treat its heroes in such a pathetic

fashion.

I am not posting the bail order for this general posting to all the groups. It

has been posted separately to all our lawyer friends and to the various human

rights bodies who are supporting us. Suffice it to say that all our efforts at

making known to the court the NACO policy and the HIV/AIDS context in which our

jailed friends worked have failed not to speak of the fact that even the legal

arguement that the case of 377 is not made out has not been considered.

What has held sway in its place is the right of the police to be the guardian of

everyone's morals, to be the protector of supposed Indian values that the

Organisations were supposedly corrupting by trying to tell MSM that they need to

protect themselves. What held sway is that there was abatement of spreading

sodomy. The organisations continued to be called gay clubs in the order. HIV

does not find a mention.

Again so much of our screeching campaign on HIV information, not to speak of the

double standards of the Indian state that for the sake of international

posturing can talk of working with MSM in spaces like UNGASS, but that jails its

activists who are doing the real work on the ground. It makes me ashamed and it

makes me angry.

The Police have produced the elusive case diary at last. The story now is that

when they went to the office of Naz, they found a lot of people watching sodomy

on TV. The attempt seems to be to substantiate the gay club / sex racket theory.

All of this lot were caught. I wonder why only four of the workers are in jail,

and where the rest of this lot that they caught are. And there is no mention of

the fact that the outreach worker Mohhamad Shahid was caught doing outreach work

in the field. A stark deviation to the early accounts given by the police and

published in the media [when we did not have the advantage of the case diary,

and the 'official' version of the story]. The story then was that they caught

some people from a public park which included Shahid, and on interrogation of

shahid they came to know of Bharosa where he is a outreach worker. The present

version has the main accused who is actually said to have commited the sodomy

citing Bharosa as a sex club that encouraged sodomy, and gave out obscene

literature and magazine to that effect.

Well we are off to the High Court. But that means at least 2 more weeks in jail

for our friends as I said .

I met the jailed friends in Jail 2 days back and in court today. They are

physically down, jail does it to people. But Arif said that we have to fight on.

He said that his conscience is clear that he has done no wrong and that this

thing has to be fought on till the very end for the truth is on our side. He

said that he understands that he is a prisoner of conscience, for he is being

jailed for his faith that it is important to save lives, no matter how much so

called society disapproves of the person being saved. He said that we cannot

give up and that truth will at last be vindicated. That it cannot be allowed not

be, for if India is to live up its national motto of 'satyameva jayate' [the

truth shall win] we must all stand up and have the courage to say that even MSM

need all the protection and support of the State to live a healthy life and live

it with dignity. To deny that would be denying us our very nationhood.

Real hero material that frail looking little man. A person who can talk of

nationhood and ideals when the nation makes an extra effort to break up his

universe. I wish I had that kind of conviction, that kind of courage. I wish I

could see the nation having the guts to stand up to its own motto.

Love

Aditya

Aditya Bondyopadhyay <adit_bond@...>

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