From 2008: Prime Minister’s Statement on Homosexuality

Since there seems to be a lot of confusion emanating from Delhi on the government’s views on the 377 case, I thought it might be useful to post this report about an event where the PM clearly stated the need to support groups like homosexuals against social prejudice.

This was from 2008, the same year where the Ministry of Home Affairs opposed decriminalisation, which position has been restated today by ASG P.P.Malhotra without attempting to clarify if that is still the MHA’s position (the media is now reporting that the MHA is stating it has no position, which is a significant change from 2008).

It is still unclear if Malhotra was acting on his own, or if there is some confusion within the MHA on this issue, which is why its important to focus on the one part of the government, the Ministry of Health (and through them the PM, who was speaking here in a Health context) has no changed its position of support to us. Even when the Minister himself, Ghulam Nabi Azad, recently appeared to be have his own views on this, he was quickly forced to clarify his stand in favour of the basic Ministry of Health position of supporting our case.

IMPORTANT: PM’s speech + Minister’s remarks on S.377 Just after the success of National Pride, a potentially big new development. The Prime Minister has made a speech where he calls for support for minority communities affected by HIV/AIDS, including homosexuals, and says that legal barriers that prevent services reaching them should go. And at the same function Minister of State Oscar Fernandes finally said it openly: “Section 377 needs to go. This is something we really need to move forward on.”

For context, please note this mail I’d posted on QMC earlier about the UNAIDS Commission on the Impact of HIV in Asia chaired by Dr.C.Rangarajan. As expected the report is very positive on issues like the need for legal change. I had posted the background and relevant sections earlier on this list. If you want to read the full report here’s the link:

• A basic story on the report: http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/FeatureStories/archive/2008/20080326_asia_commission.asp
• Full report: http://data.unaids.org/pub/Report/2008/20080326_report_commission_aids_en.pdf
• Fact sheets (1): http://data.unaids.org/pub/FactSheet/2008/20080326_fs_asiacommission_part1_en.pdf
• Fact sheets (1): http://data.unaids.org/pub/FactSheet/2008/20080326_fs_asiacommission_part2_en.pdf

 

Thanks to Dr.Rangarajan’s position as one of the prime minister’s main advisors he was able to arrange a function where the report was presented to the PM. This happened yesterday and I’d come to Delhi for that (Pride was a bonus!). Anand Grover was there and Ashok was supposed to be there too, but couldn’t come. It was all very high power, high security, protocol, etc, but worth it because what was said was excellent. Dr.Rangarajan gave an excellent speech outlining the commission’s recommendations, repeatedly mentioning the need to remove legal issues that complicate HIV/AIDS outreach with Men who have Sex with Men. Then the PM spoke, and as is characteristic with him, he was low key and restrained. But the speech was longer than I expected and it seemed quite heartfelt, especially towards the end. He did not specifically promise to remove 377, but he spoke of the need to remove stigmas and legal barriers facing all groups and, yes, he said the word ‘homosexual’, rather endearingly stumbling a bit so it came across as “homossekssuals”, but he said it!

Here is the link to the speech, the relevant portions and since its so important I will paste the full speech anyway below:

http://www.pmindia.nic.in/lspeech.asp?id=691

 

“The HIV/AIDS epidemic has brought into focus many of our social prejudices. The overwhelming number of cases are due to transmission through the sexual route. Strategies for tackling it require more inclusive and less judgmental social approaches to questions of public health and personal hygiene. “This must begin by addressing the issue of the social stigma that attaches to those who carry the AIDS virus. I do believe that growing consciousness about HIV/AIDS is forcing us to address these issues.

“The government should play a leading role in this. We should work to remove legislative barriers that hinder access of high-risk groups to services. There is a proposal for a law which would penalize anyone discriminating against an AIDS infected person from access to employment, property or services. This should be given serious consideration. The fact that many of the vulnerable social groups, be they sex workers or homosexuals or drug users, face great social prejudice has made the task of identifying AIDS victims and treating them very difficult.”

“If we have to win this fight against HIV/AIDS we have to create a more tolerant social environment. One need not condone socially unacceptable or medically inadvisable sexual practices in seeking a more tolerant approach to the problem. It is in the interests of the entire society that everyone afflicted by AIDS wins the battle against it. They deserve and have the right to live lives of dignity.”

If Dr.Singh was circumspect, the speaker who followed him, Oscar Fernandes, the minister of state (independent charge) for Labour and Employment, was not. He got up and said it (from my notes):

“It is time for politicians to come together to repeal Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Many other countries have repealed the law and it is now time India moves forward on this.”
For most people in the audience – institutions like UNAIDS, the National AIDS Control Organisation, bureaucrats, a few lawyers and journalists – this was electrifying. We were finally hearing a senior member of the government, in the presence of the prime minister, saying that S.377 needs to go! After the function was over and we were having tea we descended on the Minister, who admitted he has wondered about saying it, but after half an hour of discussion with advisors, he decided to go ahead.

It was amazing, but its also true that its questionable how much this means in reality. This government seems to be on its last legs so its not clear what it could do, even if it wanted to – its one thing making statements to sympathisers, quite another to do something practical. Nor is it clear that taking it to politicians is the best solution, since the chances are that politics could kill any positive moves, whereas the courts may be more willing to listen to the principles involved. And the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is opposing decriminalisation is much less progressive – we realised this at an interaction during a workshop on the report where a MHA representative was polite, but not too receptive (but she has promised to meet with Ashok to talk on this more).

Nonetheless, it is still something. It is an indication of how far things are coming, and how support is now becoming the default position, rather than homophobia bred of ignorance. We can help this by publicising this more, so please everyone, get out there and start selling this story. I know there might be queer story fatigue after Sunday, but we should use Sunday as a springboard for more in depth stories of which this changed attitude on the part of the government can be a part (Lesley, Outlook cover?)

Here’s the PM’s full speech:
PM’s remarks on the release of the Report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia June 30, 2008 New Delhi

I am indeed very pleased to launch the Report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia. I compliment my friend, Dr. C. Rangarajan, and his colleagues on the Commission for producing an extremely important report. It is a well-researched document that puts together information and analysis that can help us evolve strategies for reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the countries of Asia.

It is heartening to note that the report validates the basic strategic framework that has been adopted in India. It reiterates and reconfirms our understanding of the epidemic. It shows that the measures that we have adopted in India to reverse the pandemic have a sound basis.

The report has underlined clearly the importance of a public health approach to the problem if we want sustainable gains. The public health approach places emphasis on strategies that focus on vulnerable population groups, among whom the virus is primarily lodged, and goes to the root of the problem with the objective of arresting its transmission.

It is a matter of some satisfaction that the situation in India is not as alarming as it was portrayed to be some years ago. While it used to be claimed that India may have up to 5 million persons affected by HIV, more recent estimates suggest that the number could be between 2 to 3 million, mainly in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has brought into focus many of our social prejudices. The overwhelming number of cases are due to transmission through the sexual route. Strategies for tackling it require more inclusive and less judgmental social approaches to questions of public health and personal hygiene.

This must begin by addressing the issue of the social stigma that attaches to those who carry the AIDS virus. I do believe that growing consciousness about HIV/AIDS is forcing us to address these issues.

The government should play a leading role in this. We should work to remove legislative barriers that hinder access of high-risk groups to services. There is a proposal for a law which would penalize anyone discriminating against an AIDS infected person from access to employment, property or services. This should be given serious consideration.

The fact that many of the vulnerable social groups, be they sex workers or homosexuals or drug users, face great social prejudice has made the task of identifying AIDS victims and treating them very difficult.

If we have to win this fight against HIV/AIDS we have to create a more tolerant social environment. One need not condone socially unacceptable or medically inadvisable sexual practices in seeking a more tolerant approach to the problem. It is in the interests of the entire society that everyone afflicted by AIDS wins the battle against it. They deserve and have the right to live lives of dignity.

The target intervention projects that have been taken up with a focus on vulnerable populations are useful and necessary. This should be accompanied by more broad based educational programmes. Modern sex education at the appropriate school stages is of great value.

The report has highlighted the importance of political engagement and leadership as a key part of national responses to HIV and AIDS. Law enforcement agencies and the judiciary need to be co-opted to support progressive policies that address the problem.

The importance of community and civil society involvement at all stages of policy has been emphasized. It is only with their help that that public awareness regarding healthy sexual practices, including the use of condoms, can be widely propagated and social prejudices ended.

We need to understand the vulnerabilities that force some to resort to risky behaviour patterns and give them access to reliable and relevant information and basic services. We must give them adequate support to make their own choices in full awareness and  responsibility. We need to encourage behaviour change and mould social attitudes, while shedding our inhibitions regarding matters related to sexual choices.

Our Government is fully committed to supporting the strategies and work being done by the National AIDS Control Organisation. It is heartening to see the strides that have been made in the last two years in scaling up access to services keeping in view the balance between prevention and treatment. I compliment the Union Health Ministry and NACO for the leadership they have shown in tackling this very difficult problem and containing the disease.

I appeal to all medical practitioners, hospitals and blood banks across the country to adopt zero risk and best practice methods for blood collection and blood transfusion. Every citizen must have complete confidence in our blood safety practices. I am therefore, happy that an initiative has been taken to establish a national blood transfusion authority.

The problem of HIV/AIDS, and other pandemics like SARS and Avian Flu, demonstrate clearly the wisdom of that ancient Indian saying, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”. That “THE WHOLE WORLD IS ONE FAMILY”. Like all phenomenon in nature, diseases do not respect national boundaries. Hence societal response to pandemics cannot be limited to national response alone.

Of course, every country and every government must have a strategy to deal with such threats to human safety and health. We need preventive and curative strategies at the national and local level. However, such national effort must be part of a wider regional and international effort. I am therefore, happy to see that my friend Dr. Rangaranjan chaired this commission which takes a wider view of the problem at the Asian level.

We live in an increasingly integrated world. There are few problems today that humankind faces which can be solved effectively within national boundaries by individual governments. Be it the problem of pandemics, be it the problem of food security, be it the problem of rising energy prices, be it the problem of water scarcity and water utilization, be it the problem of climate change and global warming, be it the problem of terrorism, be it the problem of drug peddling and arms proliferation, be it the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction – all of them require effective cooperative action at the global level.

Each and every challenge that we face has transnational dimensions and transnational implications. The world in which national governments have to deal with the challenges they face on their own, on the premise of national sovereignty and national self-interest, no longer exists. We live in the era of global interdependence.

I am encouraged by the fact that the global response to HIV/AIDS has been constructive and has yielded positive results. I hope this will show us the way forward in dealing with other similar challenges. I hope this report adds to the available wisdom on the subject and will help us in shaping a more effective response at home. I compliment the authors of this report.

Thank you.