Posted By IANS On June 19, 2008 (12:01 pm) In Uncategorized
By Prabhat Sharan
Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) For centuries they have been feared, despised and
envied. Gypsies, an ethnic minority in Europe, continue to face discrimination
that is not very different from what India’s Dalits have to contend with. A
team of officials from Hungary, which has a high population of itinerant
gypsies, was here to study the work being done to improve the lives of Dalits
and to take some lessons back home.
“Gypsies were looked upon as strange people when they were nomads, and that
was 200 years ago. The alienation continues,� said Timea Borovzsky, chief of
the Directorate General for Equal Opportunities (DGEO) of the Hungarian
Ministry of Education and Culture.
“It is like the caste discrimination against Dalits in India,� Borovzsky
told IANS.
She along with two other members from the DGEO this month extensively toured
the dry rocky interiors of the Vidarbha region in northeastern Maharashtra.
During their quiet visit, they studied how Dalits live in huts lit by hurricane
lamps and cope with caste prejudices.
“We wanted to personally see the kind of projects that have been implemented
in India to help Dalits come up,� said DGEO deputy director general Gabor
Sarkozi.
“In Europe, there are 15 million gypsies and in Hungary, the population
ranges somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000. They are the biggest ethnic
minority and the most slurred community.�
Suri Szilivia, a researcher and interpreter with DGEO, said, “Gypsies or
Cigan as they are called in Hungary have a thousand-year- old connection with
India. The semantics of their language is similar to Sanskrit.
“But more than this, Indian social reformer Babasaheb Ambedkar is a revered
figure to them as well as to us researchers in Hungary.�
Szilivia said, “In any public place, most majority ethnic community members
would just sidle away rather than be seen with a Cigan. The Romas are
reluctantly served in hotels or given respectable jobs. Even the tone towards
them has a derogatory tint.�
Sarkozi pointed out that in Hungary, “gypsies (a political incorrect word) or
Roma or Cigan are forced to live with mythical social stereotypes…like the
way you (India) have the so-called criminal tribes.
“They are brown-skinned and they have the highest school drop-out rates. They
are looked down upon and people shun them. They live in ghettoes, though these
slums are not as bad as we saw in villages near Nagpur.�
The Hungarian government has for the past few years been trying to uplift this
community which, “at present has the highest unemployment rate and gets
seasonal employment at construction sites or as daily wage farm labour�.
According to Borovszky, “One of the reasons we selected India was precisely
because the nature of discrimination is so similar between them and the Dalits.
“We found several projects extremely interesting, innovative and socially
relevant for bringing a change in any depressed or marginalized community.�
Sarkozi said that the discrimination has become more overt in the last 20
years. “Earlier during the communist regime it was never there. But now
parallel structures of discrimination have come up. We want them to be absorbed
in mainstream society and to be treated equally.�
So what about reservations for this community in institutions?
“Though we do not have any such policies, a similar project was introduced
earlier but it was not successful. In the last 20 years, several groups like
Neo-Nazis and Skinheads have come up. So far they have not become violent but
they are extremely virulent about such policies,� Sarkozi said.
Talking about the projects that the study group intends to introduce in Hungary
for gypsies, Szilivia said, “We intend to implement the book bank project and
moreover introduce workshops for teachers so that they learn to empathise with
these marginalized people.
“In our tour, we found Ambedkarites and NGOs working with Dalits having
empathy coupled with irrepressible zest. This is one thing we want to infuse
among teachers working in schools meant for gypsies.�
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Posted By IANS On June 19, 2008 (12:01 pm) In Uncategorized
By Prabhat Sharan
Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) For centuries they have been feared, despised and
envied. Gypsies, an ethnic minority in Europe, continue to face discrimination
that is not very different from what Indiaâs Dalits have to contend with. A
team of officials from Hungary, which has a high population of itinerant
gypsies, was here to study the work being done to improve the lives of Dalits
and to take some lessons back home.
âGypsies were looked upon as strange people when they were nomads, and that
was 200 years ago. The alienation continues,â? said Timea Borovzsky, chief of
the Directorate General for Equal Opportunities (DGEO) of the Hungarian
Ministry of Education and Culture.
âIt is like the caste discrimination against Dalits in India,â? Borovzsky
told IANS.
She along with two other members from the DGEO this month extensively toured
the dry rocky interiors of the Vidarbha region in northeastern Maharashtra.
During their quiet visit, they studied how Dalits live in huts lit by hurricane
lamps and cope with caste prejudices.
âWe wanted to personally see the kind of projects that have been implemented
in India to help Dalits come up,â? said DGEO deputy director general Gabor
Sarkozi.
âIn Europe, there are 15 million gypsies and in Hungary, the population
ranges somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000. They are the biggest ethnic
minority and the most slurred community.â?
Suri Szilivia, a researcher and interpreter with DGEO, said, âGypsies or
Cigan as they are called in Hungary have a thousand-year- old connection with
India. The semantics of their language is similar to Sanskrit.
âBut more than this, Indian social reformer Babasaheb Ambedkar is a revered
figure to them as well as to us researchers in Hungary.â?
Szilivia said, âIn any public place, most majority ethnic community members
would just sidle away rather than be seen with a Cigan. The Romas are
reluctantly served in hotels or given respectable jobs. Even the tone towards
them has a derogatory tint.â?
Sarkozi pointed out that in Hungary, âgypsies (a political incorrect word) or
Roma or Cigan are forced to live with mythical social stereotypesâ¦like the
way you (India) have the so-called criminal tribes.
âThey are brown-skinned and they have the highest school drop-out rates. They
are looked down upon and people shun them. They live in ghettoes, though these
slums are not as bad as we saw in villages near Nagpur.â?
The Hungarian government has for the past few years been trying to uplift this
community which, âat present has the highest unemployment rate and gets
seasonal employment at construction sites or as daily wage farm labourâ?.
According to Borovszky, âOne of the reasons we selected India was precisely
because the nature of discrimination is so similar between them and the Dalits.
âWe found several projects extremely interesting, innovative and socially
relevant for bringing a change in any depressed or marginalized community.â?
Sarkozi said that the discrimination has become more overt in the last 20
years. âEarlier during the communist regime it was never there. But now
parallel structures of discrimination have come up. We want them to be absorbed
in mainstream society and to be treated equally.â?
So what about reservations for this community in institutions?
âThough we do not have any such policies, a similar project was introduced
earlier but it was not successful. In the last 20 years, several groups like
Neo-Nazis and Skinheads have come up. So far they have not become violent but
they are extremely virulent about such policies,â? Sarkozi said.
Talking about the projects that the study group intends to introduce in Hungary
for gypsies, Szilivia said, âWe intend to implement the book bank project and
moreover introduce workshops for teachers so that they learn to empathise with
these marginalized people.
âIn our tour, we found Ambedkarites and NGOs working with Dalits having
empathy coupled with irrepressible zest. This is one thing we want to infuse
among teachers working in schools meant for gypsies.â?
