The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A friend with HIV is still a friend: Tendulkar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A friend with HIV is still a friend: Tendulkar

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MARCH 22. Asha is a special person who has been HIV positive for 11 years. Today, she is happily remarried and mother of a child who has tested negative.

On Tuesday, she was presented at an event organised by UNICEF to garner support from Indian cricket stars to stop the discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.

Asha's story of grit and determination won the hearts of many, including cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Mohammed Kaif.

Reacting to her narration, Tendulkar remarked: "A friend with HIV is still a friend."

Dravid, one of Bangalore's heroes, appealed to all to accept the reality of HIV/AIDS and come out of the denial mode.

Fresh from bashing the opposition in Kolkata, Anil Kumble extended his support too.

In a gesture symbolising brotherhood, Asha and other HIV positive women tied `rakhis' on the wrists of the cricketers.

The Director-General of the National AIDS Control Organisation, S.Y. Quraishi, welcomed the cricketers to the National Partnership Programme on Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS.

He singled out Rahul Dravid for recording a TV spot appealing to the public to counter the shame and stigma attached to AIDS victims.

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