I am HAPPY to SHARE this GOOD NEWS.
India CCM Election Sub-committee has accepted my candidature.
My name is added to the election website’s contesting list. You can find it at http://www.indiaccm-elections.org/contesting-list.aspx (look under Sexual Minorities)
My (representing Suraksha) candidature to contest India CCM Election was denied unfairly. Here is the letter explaining the same in detail:
Bangalore
4th April, 2009
Dear friends
We are shocked at the way our (Suraksha WRHCP) candidature to contest Global Fund’s India CCM CSO Elections 2009 (http://www.indiaccm-elections.org) under the sub sector ‘Organizations working on the issues of Sexual Minorities’ was rejected.
The stated reason for rejecting our application was “Your organisation has in fact not met the following criteria set by the CMM Election Sub-Committee.
– Primarily working in the specific sub-sector that is sought to be represented”
We are at a loss how the committee came to this conclusion given that most of our work and almost all of our funding in the past 4 years has been for working with sexual minorities, primarily from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
We are also shocked at the blatant unfairness of the whole process, given that the India CCM election process claims to be transparent and fair. Below we list the events that lead us to come to the above conclusion.
– Finalized list of eligible candidates was suppose to be uploaded to the website on 2nd April however the same was put up only on April 3rdafternoon
– The email informing the rejection of our candidature arrived on the afternoon of 3rd April
– On April 4th morning when we contacted Mr. Pawan Varma (Election Secretariat, MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child) and enquired about reason for stating that Suraksha doesn’t primarily work with sexual minorities, he stated that it was the decision of the Election Sub-Committee. When asked about the detailed information for rejecting our candidature and to the process to appeal against the decision, he asked us to send a email to him, which he will forward to the sub-committee. He said that a we may not get a response till the 6th given that 4th and 5th are holidays
– Given the urgency of the matter (voting starts 9am on 7th April) how fair is it to have the rejection of the candidate and no time/ process to appeal?
– When asked about the composition of the Election sub-committee, he said that he is not authorized to reveal this info. When questioned about the lack of transparency and lack of a contact point to discuss this matter, he asked us to get in touch with Komal Khanna and Ashima Mohan from the Secretariat of the India-CCM for The Global Fund. He was willing to give us only the land line phone numbers and not mobile phone numbers. He also stated that they will not be working on the 4th and 5th April. We called the landline phone numbers mentioned in the India CCM website on 4th morning one of the numbers is invalid and there is no response to the other number.
This makes us believe that these elections are seriously compromised and raises serious questions about democracy, transparency and participation.
We appeal to all fair minded people and organization to raise your voice against this wilful scuttling of the election process.
Please feel free to contact us for more information.
In Solidarity
Elavarthi Manohar
Suraksha WRHCP
Bangalore, India
Copies to:
1. Communities Delegation to the board of the Global Fund
2. Developing Country NGO Delegation to the board of the Global Fund
3. Developed Country NGO Delegation to the board of the Global Fund
4. India CCM Secretariat
Dear friends
A first in Bangalore – A Public Meeting exclusively focusing on diverse transgender issues in India….
Aneka invites you to:
On 6th April 2009 (Monday)
From 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
At Vishranti Nilaya, CSI Women’s House, 18 Infantry Road (Diagonally opposite The Hindu Office), Bangalore
Five activists share their experiences and insights on working with transgender people in different parts of India.
Issues of SRS – Challenges for Law, the Medical Establishment, State and Society – Tista Das (on M2F) and Christy Raj (on F2M)
Being Transgender in Rural Tamil Nadu: Challenges in Organising – Muthukumar Natesan
Working with Hijras in Bangalore: Dilemmas and Challenges – Elavarthi Manohar
Patriarchy and Transgenders: Challenges for the Feminist Movement in India – Anindya Hajra
Chair Person: C. K. Meena, journalist and writer
In Solidarity
Elavarthi Manohar and Shubha Chacko
Elavarthi Manohar's Blog 