Hindus want urgent EU probe into allegations of secret Roma lists in France

Nevada (US), Oct 11 (ANI): Hindus have asked for a thorough probe by European Union (EU) into allegations that French police was keeping secret lists of Roma (Gypsies) and other travelling minorities in violation of ethnic profiling laws.

Renowned Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that France had been a continuous embarrassment to Europe in the recent past over its crackdown on helpless Roma and maltreatment of whole Roma communities.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that it was disheartening to see France, which used to be often nicknamed as "the country of Human Rights", falling so low that it had to use helpless Roma as a scapegoat to divert attention from other issues. France used to be seen as one of the most tolerant countries of the world, its Voltaire fought intolerance and fanaticism, while René Cassin was one of the main redactors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Rajan Zed argued that current French leadership was responsible for bringing this most visited fabled land of Descartes, Pascal, Rousseau, Voltaire, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Sartre, Camus, Renoir, Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse, Braque, best-loved wines, royal chateaux, over 500 cheese varieties, creator of cinema, Eiffel Tower; to its present form engulfed with racism and xenophobia.

Zed stated that European freedom of movement rights should be enforced for "all citizens" and not for just "one class of citizens". Even the religious elite of Europe was mostly keeping mum on this unjust French Roma crackdown, which was really sad as religion clearly told us to help the helpless.

Rajan Zed stressed that Council of Europe, European Parliament, and United Nations should urgently intervene to halt the devastation of the lives of voiceless Roma. Instead of unleashing repression, France and Europe needed to work on social inclusion and rehabilitation of Roma communities. "Witch-hunt" against Roma community should be immediately halted. (ANI)