SRIJAN is spread across the 300 villages in 19 districts of Bengal. Most of its members are between 12-24 years of age, who have assumed the responsibility of making the elderly people of their area aware of sexual diseases. From Kolkata to Darjeeling to South 24 Parganas, however, the leaders of the minority communities thwart their work and ask the health workers to discontinue the awareness campaigns, the young members said.

Take the state capital, where SRIJAN is working to promote sex education. “I was one of the first girl child of a Muslim family to participate in the anti-AIDS campaign. It was a nightmarish experience. People in my area had started calling me condomwali. My parents were warned by the maulvis,” said a 19-year-old Muslim girl, who works in the minority-dominated area of Bibi Bagan in eastern Kolkata.

Similarly, the tribal leaders of Rohini and Simulbari of Darjeeling district have opposed the introduction of the awareness campaign. Open discussion of problems of sexual life is a taboo in this tribal area. “The disease is considered a stigma in tea estate belts of Darjeeling, where such communities are in minority. We face a tough resistance from the local people, when we teach teenagers the methods of preventing the HIV,” said Liton Das of SRIJAN.

The situation is equally grim in Siliguri, the district headquarters, and Naxalbari, the second important town of Darjeeling. The health workers had a tough time making the leaders of the Rajbangshi community understand that the lifestyle education and anti-AIDS campaign will not harm the progress of the society.