India has had a sharp increase in the estimated number of HIV infections
These are very sad news indeed, however one can't help noticing the contrast between Sathya
Sai Baba's statements in the past about 'Bharatiyas' (i.e 'Indians') and the report that appears below :
"You should take pride in the fact that you are a Bharatiya. There is no greater qualification than this. Bharat is the country, which propagates the spiritual knowledge to the rest of the world and wishes the welfare of the entire world" -
World Youth Conference Discourse November 21, 1999
From: "Sai Pages" <webmaster@saipages.com>
To: <tftd@saipages.com>
Subject: Thought for the Day for 15-10-00
Dear Sai Bhakta,
Sai Ram,
All sons and daughters of the India pray since Vedic Times' "Lokaassamasthaah Sukhino Bhavanthu" May all the denizens of all the worlds be happy." That is why India' has been the Teacher, the Guide, for the humanity. That is why She has survived the onslaughts of alien cultures and is ready even today to take up that role. As a matter of fact, India is destined to be, India has all the qualifications to be a huge Prashanti Nilayam from which the Message of Prashanti will radiate over the whole world.
Have a nice day,
Sai Pages
Here are some facts about AIDS/VIH situation in India. India has the second largest population infected with AIDS/VIH. Too bad that SSB, in fact, ignores or discards this real catastrophy unfolding in India just at the threshold of Prashanthi Nilayam.
The information is taken from http://www.avert.org/aidsindia.htm
(also see http://www.avert.org/indiaaids.htm
).
India has had a sharp increase in the estimated number of HIV
infections,from a few thousand in the early 1990s to a working estimate of
between 3.8 million and 4.6 million children and adults living with HIV/AIDS in
2002.1
With a population of over one billion, the HIV epidemics in India will
have a major impact on the overall spread of HIV in Asia and the Pacific and
indeed worldwide.
The spread of HIV within the country is as diverse as
the societal patterns between its different regions, states and metropolitan
areas. In fact, India's epidemic is made up of a number of epidemics, and in
some places they occur within the same state. The epidemics vary from states
with mainly heterosexual transmission of HIV, to some states where injecting
drug use is the main route of HIV transmission. Both tracking the epidemic and
implementing effective programs poses a serious challenge to the authorities and
communities in India.
It would be easy to underestimate the challenge of
HIV/AIDS in India. India has a large population and population density, low
literacy levels and consequently low levels of awareness, and HIV/AIDS is one of
the most challenging public health problems ever faced by the
country.2
"How do you talk to about HIV/AIDS to someone who does not know
the basics about health and hygiene?3"-Ratna Gaekwad, an outreach coordinator
with the Delhi NGO Prayatna-
...........................
Number of
people affected by HIV/AIDS in India
Current Estimates & Future
Projections
Globally India is second only to South Africa in terms of the
overall number of people living with the disease.8
NACO estimated that
there were 610,000 new HIV infections in 2002. They also estimated that between
3.8 and 4.5 million Indians were living with HIV/AIDS during 2002, of whom 38.5
percent were women. In September 2003, NACO published the number of AIDS cases
reported. The total of AIDS cases in India were 55,764 of whom 14,486 were
women. This data also indicated that slightly over half (54%) of reported AIDS
cases were diagnosed among people aged 30-44 years. The UN Population Division
projects that India's adult HIV prevalence will peak at 1.9% in 2019. The UN
estimates that there were 2.7 million AIDS deaths in India between 1980 and
2000. During 2000-15, the UN projects 12.3 million AIDS deaths and 49.5 million
deaths during 2015-50.9 A 2002 report by the CIA's National Intelligence Council
predicted 20
million to 25 million AIDS cases in India by 2010, more than any
other country in the world.10
...........................
Andhra
Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh has one of the fastest increasing HIV/AIDS
prevalence rates in India. In 2002 the ANC prevalence rate was 1.25% and NACO
has estimated that more than 400,000 people are living with HIV in Andhra
Pradesh, the second highest number after Maharashtra state. This is 10% of the
total HIV cases in India and ninety percent of the infections in the state
occurthrough sexual transmission.15 Andhra Pradesh is a Hindu state in the
southeast of the country with a total population of 75.7 million.
Robert Priddy has commented on this subject:
Sathya Sai Baba always claims to be reviving the Indian nation to its former alleged greatness, yet he never speaks up on India’s worst sufferings: One of mankind's most basic needs and drives is virtually unmentionable by the supposed 'world universal teacher'! Though he avoids all subjects like birth control, condoms, AIDS and other sex-related issues like the plague (except in the privacy of the interview room or with close confidantes), he has once shown in public that is more Catholic than the present Pope. He has nothing whatever to advise but abstention from sexual behaviour. That SSB steers clear of the sex discussion strongly suggests that his real views would awaken astonishment and would cause many to fall away from his movement and might also draw more attention to his own sexual proclivities and preferences. He lists lust as one of the seven or cardinal sins, without explaining what kind of lust even, though he always claims to have no bodily desires. However, many factual and convincing accounts by a wide variety of young men indicate clearly that SSB has tried to change young men into homosexuals and for his own gratification!Since the sexual impulse is so fundamental and is the source of so many personal, social and other problems in the world, one might have expected some more enlightened talk about it than preaching monastic and repressive ideals. What a parody of spiritual guidance to mankind! There is nothing whatever ‘spiritual’ about avoiding the issues connected with sexuality. In contrast to SSB’s secrecy and his attitude that strongly suggests guilt and shame feelings about sexuality, the great Sufi mystic and famous poet, Rumi, regarded sexual desires in youth as 'letting one's feathers grow out', without which dangerous problems can be caused later. (The Essential Rumi, p. 64). This is definitely an enlightened attitude and is favoured by an increasing majority in most modern countries nowadays.