Note of thanks from NFI

[Guest guest]

Naz Foundation International

29th July, 2001

A Second Thank You

Dear Friends,

The Board of Trustees, our Executive Director Shivananda Khan,

and the staff of our London Office, would once again like to

take this opportunity to thank all of you who have given their

unstinting support to the staff of our Regional Liaison Office

in Lucknow including the Director of this office Arif Jafar,

and the staff of Bharosa.

We would also like to thank all those individuals, groups and

organisations working in the field of the rights of sexual

minorities in India for their support as well. Differences

continue to be forgotten in this common fight for their

constitutional rights.

The incredible Indian and international solidarity which has

been generated by the horrifying arrests in Lucknow on spurious

charges, when all these organisations were acting in good faith

in supporting the Indian government's policy of reducing the

spread of AIDS, has been incredible.

We would especially like to thank Aditya Bondyopadhyay, our

lawyer representing the two organisations, the staff and

others in Lucknow, Lok Prakash for his advocacy, along with

Shaleen Rakesh of Naz Foundation India Trust, Rajiv Dua,

Ashok Row Kavi, Anand Grover of Lawyers Collective, Lee

of IGLHRC, Sara Hossain of Interights, Perminder Prabha of

Amnesty International in the UK, and so many others.

I apologise if you have not been mentioned, but all your

support is gratefully acknowledged

We are also gratified that Amnesty International have labelled the

arrested staff as " prisoners of conscience " .

We would like to thank the hundreds of people who have responded

to IGLRC's, Amnesty International's and NFI's various

appeals for action, and who have written to the range of Indian

authorities protesting at this assault on human rights.

Here in the UK we have been working closely with Aditya,

of IGLHRC, Sara Hossein of Interights, Perminder Pharba of

Amnesty International to develop a coordinateed response. We

have also ensured that those international agencies working in

the field of HIV/AIDS, as well as international donors funding

programmes in India, along with lobbying at government level

both in India and in the UK to have these charges rightly

dismissed, and the Bharosa and NFI staff released immediately.

This is not only about the rights of sexual minorities. It is

also about the right to protect your live and the right to health.

Our Patrons are also doing their bit. They consist of members of

the House of Commons and the House of Lords of the British Parliament.

They are also lobbying the British Goverment on our behalf to work

for the release of our staff with the Indian government.

We have lobbied with UNAIDS, USAID, DFID, SIDA, NORAD, a range of

private donors who fund programmes in India, a range of

international AIDS NGOs, and many, many others across the world.

This solidarity reflects the unity on this issues of the right to

access appropriate information to protect one's life and the right

to access appropriate sexual health services, irrespective of

whatever sexual identity, behaviour, label, of donors, NGOs, a range

of institutions and CBOs, self-help groups and individuals from

Mumbai to Calcutta, from New Delhi to Chennai, and from New York

to Sydney.

It is this solidarity that highlights the common struggle to ensure

that India does not fall victim to a disastrous AIDS epidemic with

unthinkable consequences, although right now such an epidemic does

exist in certain parts of the country we all love.

Right now Aditya is working on the HIgh Court appeal for bail which

we hope will be this coming weekend. At the same time, he will be

working on enabling these ridiculous charges to be dismissed.

We are in constant charge with each other.

We would like to thank you all, and ask for your continued solidarity

as we move forward in this battle. We would also like to ask you to

please circulate this email to all your contacts who have supported

us in this struggle.

Thank you and with warm regards

Naz Foundation International

Palingswick House

241 King Street

London W6 9LP, UK

_________________________

E-mail: Aditya Bondyopadhyay <adit_bond@...>