Livid with Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for his discriminatory remarks on gays, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community has waged a virtual war against him, with some wishing the Congress leader 'Get well soon Mamu!!!'
Munnabhai MBBS-style on Facebook.
Three girls Elakshi Kumar, Shalini Krishan and Rituparna Borah have created a Facebook page 'Get Well Soon!! to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad', to attack the Congress leader.
The creators have provided contact details of Azad, including his Delhi address and telephone numbers, requesting people to either send him 'Get Well Soon' cards or call his numbers to wish him: Get Well Soon!
They have also written a text on the page explaining about the 'disease' that Azad is allegedly suffering from.
The page states, "The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has been diagnosed with a grave disease. As good and responsive citizens, we want to express our sympathy and wish him a speedy recovery."
They also listed his ailments and their symptoms in the page. The trio termed his disease as 'delusional disorder and paranoia' and put it in the 'contagious' category.
The girls have also cited reasons misinformation, loss of memory and anxiety as the alleged causes of the disease.
The trio went to the extent of listing the symptoms of Azad's alleged disease.
According to them, the symptoms are: fear, hate speech, bigotry against LGBT persons and loss of memory about historical events UN approved a resolution affirming the rights of LGBT people in 2011, decriminalisation of homosexuality by the Delhi High Court in 2009 and removal of homosexuality as a specific diagnostic category from the World Health Organisation's ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders.
According to the LGBT community, Azad's remarks were a ploy to divert the attention of the nation from the failures of the 'grievously ill' UPA government.
So what is the cure for this 'grievously ill government'? "Little bit of knowledge on things happening around the world and 'Get Well Soon' cards!' may help cure the illness of the UPA government," said Elakshi Kumar, one of the creators of the page.
Asked how many 'Get Well Soon' cards have been sent to the 'ailing' minister so far, she said, "We are not keeping any records of cards being sent to him. Though, 245 people are 'attending' to our FB page as of now. Anyone can join the page and send cards/messages to the minister."
She added, "We are not a part of any group. We just started the page as a small symbolic gesture against Azad's discriminatory words. He has made unscientific, outdated and intolerant statements about homosexuality and LGBT persons in India.
"These are appallingly dangerous words to be used by the union health minister. We wish him a speedy recovery from his own bigotry and ignorance on the matter of homosexuality and 'Indian culture'."
On Monday, Azad had termed men having sex with men (MSM) 'unnatural' and a 'disease'. He added that the disease had come to India from foreign shores.