TN village gets Positive

M Easwari, publicly disclosed her HIV status and boldly fought threats of social boycott and discrimination to win the sympathy of voters in Kodangipatti in the Bodi Panchayat Union elections in Theni district.

M Easwari 28, publicly disclosed her HIV status and boldly fought threats of social boycott and discrimination to win the sympathy of voters in Kodangipatti in the Bodi Panchayat Union elections in Theni district.

When Theni district8217;s People Living With and Affected by HIV/AIDS Trust first announced its intentions to field 10 HIV positive men and women for the various panchayat posts, T Mariappan, was among them. But soon after he filed his nomination, he faced threats from his Chettiar community in Kodangipatti. 8220;They did not want me to contest because I had HIV. They wanted someone more affluent to contest the post,8221; Mariappan told The Sunday Express over the telephone from his village.

The community threatened to ostracise him and impose a Rs 1,000 fine. He withdrew his nomination when his family and relatives were also threatened. But backed by the Trust, Mariappan persuaded his wife to file her nominations. Until then the villagers had not been aware that she was HIV positive too.

Then the two participated in an orientation and training programme on Panchayati Raj, organised by the Trust, of which they were members. A few neighbours agreed to accompany them when they launched their campaign for the October 15 civic polls in the state. But when the village committee threatened to ostracise and fine them, they quickly backed off. Then, Easwari and her husband launched an intensive door-to-door campaign on their own, appealing to the sympathies of the people, assuring them of their sincerity to take up development works in the panchayat and spread AIDS awareness in the district which had registered a 1.75 per cent prevalence rate.

Easwari won the election, polling 250 of the 580 votes, defeating her nearest rival, backed by the Chettiar community, by 88 votes.

Easwari said her ultimate aim was to speak in the Tamil Nadu Assembly about the problems faced by the HIV positive community. 8220;This victory has given me tremendous confidence,8221; she said, to represent the community and take up their problems.

Her seven-year-old son, Santosh, is also HIV positive. While the other nine HIV positive candidates lost, Easwari8217;s victory proved a major boost to the 2,500-odd members of the Trust, battling to spread awareness in the Panchayats. 8220;People just don8217;t want to talk about HIV in villages. We know that at least 20,000 villagers in the district could be infected and we want them to come for counselling,8221; said

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S Pichaimani, president of the Trust, and the main mover behind the initiative to get HIV positive men and women in Panchayat posts.