I was denied Congress ticket: HIV-positive woman

[Guest guest]

I was denied Congress ticket: HIV-positive woman

Guwahati, March 15: An HIV-positive woman in Assam on Wednesday said the stigma

attached to the disease has cost her a ruling Congress party ticket to fight

next month's assembly elections.

" I was pained to hear that I was denied a Congress ticket to fight the polls

under pressure from local leaders who opposed my candidature just because I was

an HIV-positive, " Jahnabi Goswami said.

The 29-year-old woman said there was a " slander campaign " against her

candidature soon after the Congress asked her to contest state elections from

the Barhampur assembly constituency in eastern Assam.

" Many people went on to say how a woman carrying the virus for 12 years will be

able to work for the public if elected, " Goswami told IANS.

" The stigma attached to the disease is not only among the ignorant people, but

is evident even in politics although I thought a leader like Gandhi would

have given me a fair deal. "

The Congress even billed her as the first HIV-positive person to contest an

election in India.

The party late Tuesday announced names of 120 candidates for elections to the

126-member legislature scheduled for April 3 and April 10.

" It was the party top leaders who invited me to join the Congress and fight the

elections. Now I stand humiliated after being denied the ticket, " she said.

Congress party leaders refused to comment on her allegations.

" It the party high command that decided on the list of candidates, " a senior

Congress party leader said.

In 1994 Goswami married a wealthy businessman and in two years her husband died,

but not before infecting her with HIV.

Two years after her husband's death, Goswami lost her two-year-old daughter to

the illness. She was in the meantime shunned out of her parents-in-laws house

after her husband's death.

Left with few options, Goswami decided to go to the university and get a degree

in political science. Once armed with her degree, she went public with her HIV

status, becoming one of the few Indian women to do so.

" My idea was to fight against the social stigma attached to the disease and help

innocent women like me from contracting the virus, " she said.

She has experienced first-hand the social stigma attached to AIDS.

" The moment a flat-owner came to know of my HIV-positive status, I was asked to

vacate the house, " she said.

She had to change her accommodation at least 12 times before the government

provided her housing. But her openness about her situation ended up getting her

a job as a government counsellor, advising people about AIDS.

" I thought I would be able to make a difference by joining politics especially

in achieving my mission of persuading the Indian government make pre-marital

AIDS testing mandatory to prevent the spread of the virus, " she said.

India is home to 5.13 million HIV-positive cases, the highest after South Africa

with 5.3 million cases.

" I may have lost the political battle, but my war against HIV/AIDS and the

stigma attached to the disease will continue with more vigour now, " Goswami

said.

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________________

Dr. E. Mohamed Rafique

E-mail:emsify@...