Arrest of NFI and Bharosa representatives in Lucknow

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

I apologise for the delay in sending you this message regarding the events

of last weekend in Lucknow affecting Arif Jafar our Director of the NFI

Liaison Office, and the work that we do in regard to assisting MSM sexual

health projects in India.

I found out about this dreadful event on Sunday, 8th July through phone

call when I was attending an international meeting and speaking

(coincidentally on MSM, South Asia and human rights).

I was also asked by my Board to send what details I had and an emergency

meeting was held to see what the real issues were and how we should

respond. This meeting was held on Tuesday, 10th July 2001.

What below is the stance of NFI and I call upon all those working in the

field of HIV/AIDS prevention, as well as those fighting for the rights of

sexual minorities to make your presence known if you accept what is below.

What we know.

On Saturday 7th July, Arif Jafar Director and staff of Naz Foundation

International and Bharosa, a local MSM sexual health project which NFI has

supported with training and technical assistance, both based in Lucknow,

was arrested, the offices raided and then closed by the police.

Subsequently, Arif Jafar and the staff were charged with Section 120B of

the Indian Penal Code which I believe relates to conspiracy to commit

illegal acts. Others were charged under Section 377 which deals with

" carnal intercourse against the order of nature.. "

From what we can identify the reason for such a ludicrous charge was that:

Bharosa was actively recruiting " homosexuals " and providing them with a

sex club where men can meet each other for sex under the guise of an MSM

sexual health NGO. The term MSM was seen as " men seeking men " by the

police and the phrase " drop-in centre " was seen as a sex club, and social

group meetings were deemed meetings for men to meet men for sex.

Naz Foundation International was deemed to be directly involved because

a.Arif Jafar was not only acting as unpaid Executive Director of

Bharosa, (as agreed by NFI until a replacement could be found) but also the

Director of NFI Liaison Office.

b.That NFI resource centre and its attached apartment had what was

deemed " pornographic material " and was " luxuriously " appointed.

c.That NFI Liaison Office funds were being used to support such sex

clubs.

On Sunday we asked our legal advisor, Aditya Bondyapadhyay to immediately

go to Lucknow and see what legal steps needed to be taken, and we asked

another of our technical advisors based in New Delhi to begin networking

and discuss these issues with the press.

We sincerely thought that these stupid charges would be dismissed

immediately when the facts were presented. But this was not the case.

Arif Jafar and other staff are still in the police station under what I

believe is termed " Lockup " because on the two times that bail application

has been applied for the police have not been able to produce their case

diary.

Let me, as the Executive Director of Naz Foundation International, and on

behalf of the Trustees of the organisation categorically deny that Naz

Foundation International, either promotes homosexuality in India, or

supports the so-called sex clubs, or funds such sex clubs, or any other

allied accusations. Nor does it provide pornographic materials. Nor does it

recruit or traffick males through the projects it assists. Nor does it fund

such activities.

We are a legitimate organisation, registered as a charitable organisation,

our work constantly reviewed by international donors and others.

We DO NOT deny that we work with range of men who have sex with men

networks in India, whatever label they may give themselves, assisting them

to form their own AIDS prevention community-based organisations that will

help them reduce the risks of HIV transmission and so assist in the

Government programmes to halt the rise of AIDS in India, a situation where

in several areas, an epidemic already exist.

Nor do we deny that in our Information and Resource Centre there were

educational videos, books and documentation on condom use and safer sex

donated by Deutches AIDS Hilfe in Germany and Terrance Higgins Trust in the

UK and others, and books and documentation on sexualities, genders and

HIV/AIDS from across the world. We saw these as BCC materials to help

provide appropriate education and AIDS after all is a global issue and

concern.

We sincerely believed that the National AIDS Programme agenda for

prevention of AIDS in India which included men who have sex with men as a

target group was supported by the National AIDS Control Organisation,

UNAIDS and other international and Indian institutions. That there was a

united front to halt the spread of AIDS and that ALL those at risk and were

vulnerable deserved to be supported and assisted in accessing accurate

information on the issues, appropriate health and counselling services to

meet their needs as human beings and Indian citizens.

Under the Indian constitution all citizens have the right to protect their

lives.

NFI has worked with men who have sex with men, because so few and

courageous people do so. So few do because of the very issues that the

police have generated by the arrest of Arif Jafar and other dedicated

people working in the field of HIV and AIDS prevention.

NFI has dedicated itself to working for such marginalised populations,

recognising that it might be vulnerable to such accusations. But rather

than see such people forgotten and consigned to their deaths, we decided to

act. And not only NFI, but other dedicated organisations.

We have followed UNAIDS and NACO guidelines on assisting developing such

community-based responses. NFI helps by providing training, technical

assistance, networking support, We have helped develop some 10 such

projects and programmes in India that are self-managed, independent and

autonomous from NFI. We do not charge for such assistance.

Such assistance does not come from a vacuum. It is based on needs

assessments conducted among MSM by these networks themselves, on

discussions with a range of donors, both Indian and international.

Bharosa was one such partner project. We continue to fight for the right of

such community-based organisations to exist and seek technical support to

save the lives of their constituents.

We are asking for solidarity from all of you in this fight against

prejudice, misinformation. fear, homophobia, and ignorance.

You know our work. You know what we do and how we do this work. You know

whom we work with. Between all the projects we have supported and helped

develop, they have reached out to nearly half a million MSM since we began.

Lives saved perhaps, but at least human beings who have accessed good,

accurate information that does not stigmatise or dehumanise them.

If we do nothing, then we are we saying that men who have sex with men,

whatever label they give themselves have NO right to accurate information

on HIV/AIDS, that they lives have no significance, that they cannot have

the same rights as any other citizen, and that they deserve to die? How can

India say that when it claims to be civilised and democratic society. How

can any agency, government, local, international. If this premise is

accepted than no work in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS among

stigmatised and marginalised groups can continue! No sexual health

programme will be safe from such attacks. The Indian National AIDS

Programme will not achieve its targets. It cannot do so without the support

of NGOs and CBOs.

The key issue here is not only about homosexuality and its rights and

wrongs in India society. In this situation, the real key issue is the right

of ALL Indian citizens to have information that protects their lives and

appropriate health services that they can access. To deny them this is to

deny them their citizenship rights.

Can you all please network on egroups etc. this request for solidarity and

support both locally and internationally. We do not have all the email

addresses that we should have. We ask you to write to NACO, to UNAIDS, to

World Bank, to NGOs working in the field of HIV/AIDS, and to all human

rights organisations. to the range of egroups and so on. Will you do that

with us?

Thank you for your support

Shivananda DG Khan

Executive Director

Naz Foundation International

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Forwarded by: Rajesh Jha <rajeshjha33@...>