India's HIV infected rise to oppose discrimination

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India's HIV infected rise to oppose discrimination

Wed Sep 6, 2006 1:58 PM BST

By Kamil Zaheer

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Three years ago, a 35-year-old Indian man who

worked as a cargo loader in a garment factory was stunned when his

employer forced him to get some rest because he seemed unwell.

The problem was, the man, despite being HIV positive, did not want

to take it easy because he felt he was able to work.

" I said I can't take rest. I have a family to support but he kept

telling me 'get rest', " said the father of three, who spoke on

condition of anonymity.

But with his employer, New Delhi-based Joss Knits (India) Private

Ltd, apparently unwilling to listen, the man has sought justice from

the labor commissioner's office.

His demand: backpay of 25 months, the period for which he says he

did not work because the firm refused his services due to his HIV-

positive status.

His case, activists say, is the tip of the iceberg. An increasing

number of HIV/AIDS patients are coming forward with complaints of

being discriminated by employers, neighbors, landlords and even

schools, because of their infection.

" We see such cases all the time but are handicapped by the lack of

an anti-HIV discrimination law, " said Anand Grover, a director at

Lawyers Collective, a voluntary legal group fighting for the rights

of India's marginalized.

India has the world's largest number of HIV-positive people at 5.7

million, according to the United Nations AIDS agency, and stigma and

misconceptions about the virus are common

India reported its first HIV case in 1986 but, two decades later,

the government is still mulling over a proposed HIV discrimination

law drafted by Lawyers Collective.

" Social legislation takes time. We can't rely on law alone. We have

to fight stigma more by creating awareness, " said Sujatha Rao, head

of the National AIDS Control Organization.

But activists say the lack of a law dealing with HIV/AIDS makes

their task tougher.

Countries like the United States, Britain and South Africa have

specific provisions in their laws banning discrimination against HIV-

positive people including in employment.

Joss Knits, the Delhi garment company, denies charges by its former

worker that he was treated unfairly because of HIV.

" He was not to coming to work for so long. We never told him not to

come to work, these charges are ridiculous, " Raj Tandon, a director

at the firm, told Reuters.

The former employee, who now washes cars and dusts furniture for a

living, say he wants justice. But legal experts say he faces an

uphill task in the absence of a specific law that bans

discrimination of HIV positive people.

" Life is difficult but we have to cope, " said the man. " We want to

live with dignity. "

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