The Roma of Hungary: An abstract comparison with the Dalits of India in terms of marginalization and political mobilization

<strong>Centre for the Study of Discrimination&amp; Exclusion (CSDE) Jawaharlal Nehru University</strong> a talk on <strong>The Roma of Hungary: An abstract comparison with the Dalits of India in terms of marginalization and political mobilization</strong> <strong>Dr. Malay Mishra</strong> (Retd. Indian Foreign Service Officer) Date: <strong>2nd December, 2016</strong> <strong>Abstract: </strong>The Roma have been an itinerant community, and therefore trans-national, in Europe till well up to the end of the 19th century. As per history, they originated from north and north-western regions of India as wandering tribes, pushed out by Islamic invasions in the beginning of the last millennium (many of the original tribes can still be found in today's Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Punjab, among Banjaras and other desert and hill tribes) and moved all along the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans, to find a foothold in Europe. They have been largely sedimented since, with much of their in-born skills having disappeared though some parts of their ancestral languages and cultures preserved till this day, under enormous changes in the socio-economic context, particularly with the feudal order giving way to capitalism and later with communism (the Soviet order) holding sway over much of eastern and central Europe, and the Balkans. Today the Roma in Hungary, a central European state, number over 700,000 as per official count, about 10% of the total population and is the largest among 13 minority groups that inhabit the country. However, despite and largely because of communism having moved on with the onset of a market economy for over 25 years, their conditions remain among the poorest, and they suffer the highest degree of social exclusion and discrimination. The total count of the Roma in contemporary Europe is deemed to be between 12-15 million, while they are ubiquitous in all parts of the world.The Roma find close parallel with the Dalit community in present day India, in terms of their degrees of marginalization and consequent impoverisation and social degradation. Though Dalits are not a part of the tribal groups, they are both included among Scheduled communities of India, and are thus subjected to constitutional safeguards, political patronage and leadership, and above all, social and economic empowerment. This lends to a comparative framework between the two marginalized communities, of India and Hungary, though with interesting areas of similitude as well as large differentials, both visible in their empowerment processes.