The Hindu : New Delhi News : A panchayat in aid of AIDS victims

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 09, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

A panchayat in aid of AIDS victims

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 8. In an effort to understand and unravel the hidden realities of persons infected and affected by HIV and their battles against stigma and discrimination, a unique `People's Panchayat', was organised here in the Capital to addressed the concerns of marginalised communities including sex workers, sexual minorities and people living with HIV/AIDS across the country.

Organised by Action Plus, a network of organisations working for HIV/AIDS, Social Justice and Human Rights, the public hearing on "People's Panchayat on Stigma and Discrimination" offered a platform to advocate for and share widely the issues, concerns and opportunities related to the core theme from the perspective of the victims and survivors of HIV/AIDS.

According to the organisers, the meet was an opportunity for the participants and "provided a forum to share, reflect and have a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of stigma and discrimination in different contexts, recognise and build upon the strengths and survival strategies of affected persons towards challenging and transforming discriminatory social and legal policies and evolving a notion of rights rooted in their realities".

"There has been devaluation of livelihoods and life systems of entire communities of people who practice alternate sexuality and the absolute erosion of all notions of rights or dignity of people living with HIV/AIDS. Through the programme we hope to deepen knowledge through dialogue among people in the regions and facilitate creative and concrete policies and programme action, formulate concrete and relevant follow up actions and campaigns at the regional and national levels to evolve long-term sustainable strategies to address the issue," said organisers while speaking about the need for the programme.

At the Panchayat there were eight testimonies of survivors from Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Indore, Nippani, Pune, Sangli and Surat; and two experts made presentations on the current scenario of HIV/AIDS and stigma-discrimination, while a jury comprising eminent personalities heard the testimonies.

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