Nevad (US), Aug.4 (ANI): In view of Monday?s apparently racial shooting death of a Roma woman and other reported incidents of violence in the recent past, Hindus are asking for immediate intervention of European Union (EU) in Hungary to protect the Roma minorities.
Indian American leader Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that already marginalized, deprived, and discriminated against Roma should not be blamed for all the misfortune of Hungary.
According to reports, a Roma widow Marika was shot dead and her 13-year-old daughter received life threatening injuries when their house in the eastern village of Kisleta was attacked while they were sleeping on Monday. Last year, 16 anti-Roma attacks were reported in Hungary killing over half a dozen Roma, including assaults with guns, Molotov cocktails and hand grenades and perpetrators have still not been caught, reports suggest.
Zed argued that Hungary and European Union should make sure that racism and hatred did not grow in Hungary and all crimes against Roma people should be immediately solved.
He further said that in Hungary, despite various government initiatives, Roma reportedly continued to face blatant discrimination, shanty town living, an atmosphere of hostility, huge unemployment rate, lower life expectancy, prejudice, significantly higher school dropout rate, racism, bias and stereotyping, school segregation, social exclusion, mistrust, human rights violations, etc. According to an estimate, less than 1% of Roma obtained higher education degrees.
Zed pointed out that instead of reportedly continuing to marginalize Roma socially, this country of Lake Balaton, romantic Danube River, Franz Liszt and Bela Bartok, should be more embracing of Roma brothers and sisters who had been reportedly living with them since 14th century. Hungarian government should be more proactive in protecting Roma and other minorities.
He urged all religious leaders, religions and denominations of Hungary to work for the upliftment of Roma, because religion told us to help the helpless.
Roma in Hungary, whose estimated numbers sometimes reach around one million, form about ten percent of total Hungary populace, which makes it largest Roma minority as percentage of total population in the world. Current demographic trends indicate that in 2050, about 21 percentage of Hungary population will be Roma.
Rajan Zed stressed that it was moral obligation of Europe to take care of its largest minority Roma population and stop human rights violations suffered by them, who numbered around 15 million and lived in apartheid like conditions. There seemed to be no coherent and effective policy to assimilate them into the society. Their alarming condition was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world. (ANI)