I don't care who sleeps with who so long as they use a condom," burst out Renuka Chowdhary, India's minister of state for health, at a meeting with the Indian delegates at the Manila Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. This was when she was pushed to the edge. By activists who were irked by the minister's definition of Hindustan's changing sexual morality. "It's not just the truckers any more, it's also the executive who tours every month," she said. She was told: "It's not about just the executives either."
The minister's meeting with the Indian delegates, most of who have been working in the field of AIDS for years, began on a wrong footing. Disapproving whispers, raised eyebrows and gasps of disbelief greeted Chowdhary's request that AIDS in India should not be made to seem like a larger issue than it is. "Are we supposed to feel ashamed of having AIDS in India? Hush it up. Let not the world know," mumbled one activist. Another observed how it was so typically like the government to want to lock away a problem till it reached mammoth proportions.
Oblivious to the criticism, Chowdhary doled out assurances and promises by the dozen. She assured the delegates she'd meet them again in Delhi. And, as delegates jumped at the opportunity by asking her for a definite date, Chowdhary went on to declare that her speech that afternoon was "one from the heart". Probably the reason for it being low on facts and figures and wishy-washy on agenda. But a beginning nonetheless. By a minister who broke a long silence on the subject by saying: "AIDS is a grave problem and we shouldn't ignore it because we have bigger problems." Yes, Minister.
