South Asia Citizens Web

On the eve of World AIDS Day, December 1, 2015, AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan is releasing the digitized version of its very first report titled “Women & AIDS – Denial and Blame”, twenty-five years after it was first published. The report is as relevant today as it was when the print version was first brought out. The above two quotes bear testimony to this.

"There are no bio-medical or physiological factors which make some groups rather than others more prone to HIV infection. Contrary to popular fantasy, the modes of transmission of HIV put many more people at risk than the label “high-risk group” implies. It is not what you are but what you do, and what blood-banks and blood product manufacturers and hospitals do, that constitutes the primary risk factor. It therefore becomes crucial to understand the spread of HIV in terms of activities and not groups which are at high-risk.

Obviously there is no direct link between the two incidents in Paris and Colombo. But, the threat of growing Islamic fundamentalism is global.

The Secretary-General underlines his growing concern over the blocking of essential supplies on the Nepal-India border. He is alarmed by reports of the obstruction, and destruction, of life-saving medical supplies and the continued impact on humanitarian operations. He calls on all sides to lift these restrictions without further delay and underlines Nepal’s right of free transit. ..

We, the ex-students of Jamia Millia Islamia, are writing to you to express our deep anguish and grief on your invitation to Mr. Narendra Modi to be the chief guest at annual convocation. We are anguished and shocked because, he is along with his party members, have been constantly involved in spreading rumors and hatred about Jamia Miliilia Islamia.

A verdict of death has once again been delivered in the great Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and this time it was rather a question of morality than that of murder. The unnamed Sri Lankan woman has been found guilty of fornication and has therefore been sentenced to be stoned to death. Such is the infamous Shari’a law applied in Saudi Arabia.