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| | Communities Rally around HIV/AIDS Widows |
 | | BHATINDA, India, Dec 31 (IPS) - Life could not have looked any bleaker for Manpreet, 28, when she and three of her four young daughters were found HIV-positive in April, not too long after her truck driver husband died possibly of AIDS. |
 | | With the flowing beard and turban of Sikhism, the predominant faith in these parts, Mannu said he was shocked by the "callousness and even hostility" with which Manpreet was treated by the Bhatinda district authorities. |
 | | When Manpreet and her daughters, supported by Mannu and the local committee, staged a sit-in strike at the Bhatinda headquarters, the officials relented to the extent of providing her two blankets worth less than 50 cents. |
| www.aegis.com /news/ips/2002/IP021233.html (1331 words) |
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