Religion and Government

    Religion and government play a major role in many societal and cultural norms in India. Unfortunately they also play a major role in perpetuating ideologies that prevent the education and awareness of AIDS amongst our target group (Indian women in Canada and India), and the population as a whole.

Religion
    Religion plays a huge role in the cultural practices and beliefs.According to Wikipedia (2006), the major religions practiced in India are Judaism, Ayyavazhi, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, the Bahai Faith and Jainism. “Religion seeps into every facet of Indian life. Despite being a secular democracy, India is one of the few countries on earth in which the social and religious structures which define the nation’s identity remain in tact…” (Destination Hindustan, 2004). Due to the fact that religion so strongly dictates the culture and lifestyle of the Indian people, it has become almost an obstacle to overcome in the trek for HIV/AIDS education and awareness building, both among the Indo-Canadian population as well as amongst Indians in India. Speaking of sex and sexually related topics are taboo “You can’t talk about HIV without talking about sex, certain body parts, certain activities and certain truths that many people would prefer [not to hear]” (Lechky, 1997).

    Many misconceptions plague the culture for instance “…the misconception that AIDS is a disease of gay white men…” and “they reason [that] they’re not white, not gay and don’t use drugs, and therefore are not at risk” (Lechky, 1997). In fact according to Lechky (1997), “…because people travel back and forth between Canada and India quite frequently, Indian-Canadians are at risk even if they still live a very traditional lifestyle.” She states that by stating traditional lifestyle, religious lavs that govern some cultures are implied. “It also means that sex is rarely discussed, even between parents and children, and sex outside, marriage—and homosexuality—are considered sinful. Talking about HIV and AIDS goes well beyond the norms of accepted decency.” (Lechky, 1997)     In India specific religious norms that perpetuate the ideologies preventing HIV/AIDS education and awareness include that women are not allowed in Islamic temples at the same time as men demonstrating the inequality between men and women; arranged marriages implicate that women are property to be bought and/or sold; gender inequalities and bias is noted, especially amongst families who can’t afford to educate all their children who will send the males rather than the females to school, this diminishes the chance that women will receive a formal education during which some form of sexual health, HIV/AIDS education will be provided.. Gender selection is another norm common in India which illustrates the lack of value put on women, through abandonment of female infants or aborting pregnancies upon realization of the sex, the female to male ratio in India is vastly imbalanced, which may cause the viewing of women as a commodity as opposed to equals.

The Government in India

    Recently there has been increased involvement between the non-Indian-born religions and the state, to implement HIV/AIDS education in schools, but the government effort has been minimal. According to Raj (1998), “Education is a state subject in India and although the central government exerts considerable influence through the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), the government has so far failed to pronounce any firm policy.” “…NCERT has so far been playing it safe because of the explosiveness of the issue of sex education which cannot be separated from AIDS education.” (Raj, 1998)

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