File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_1999/postcolonial.9904, message 225


Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 23:18:56 -0800
From: "C. J. S. Wallia" <cjwallia-AT-indiastar.com>
Subject: RE: The Albanians and the Gypsies


Dr C.J.S. Wallia wrote:

>>A few days ago (April 20), I heard a moving statement by a Gypsy family on
>>NPR regarding the mistreatment of Gypsies in the refugee camps in
>>Macedonia.While distributing milk cans,  the relief organizations operating
>>the camps  ignore the Gypsy children and cater only to the ethnic
>>Albanians. "Don't the Gypsy children have soul?" pleaded the Gypsy woman,
>>sobbing. The Gypsies are forced to find food in the garbage dumps outside
>>Skopje.

>> Many of the Gypsies who fled Kosovo are converts to Islam. However,
>>since Gypsies are of Indian descent they are dark-skinned, and for
>>centuries, have been victims of racial discrimination all overEurope,
>>including abuse by
>>Muslim Albanians.

>>A detailed review of Isabel Fonsceca's highly acclaimed "Bury Me
>>Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey" appears at
>>http://www.indiastar.com   Isabel Fonseca refers to the identifiable
>>dark-complexion of the Gypsies
>>repeatedly in her book. Regarding Germany and Scandinavia, she writes: "A
>>landowner in the
>>Rhineland tallied among the bagged, that is, captured and killed, in his
>>hunting log of 1835 'Gypsy woman and suckling babe.' Long before this had
>>become popular sport, Denmark decreed capital punishment for Gypsy leaders
>>in 1589, and fifty years later, Sweden specified hanging for all Gypsy
>>males."

>>The situation of the Gypsies in Eastern Europe today is worse than that of
>>people of African descent in the U.S. prior to 1940.

>>Those who know Punjabi/Hindi  might find the following everyday Gypsy
>>expressions evocative:
>>1. mahalla, (quarter) 2. Baro shero, (big leader)3. Thanh, (place) 4. Teh
>>dehn, kha; teh maran, nass ja.(if they give something to eat, take it;if
>>they strike you, flee. 5. Gaun tay phera pau (make a round of the village)

=================================================================================Mr. Neeraj Bhatnagar writes:

>This is not about blaming the victim but I am curious why European Gypsies
>are a
>perpetually prosecuted race.  I know that these folks are dark skinned.  I
>also
>know that parts of Europe have a long history of racial discrimination and
>ethnic cleansing.  But these folks are living in Europe for centuries.
>Did they try to assimilate with native europeans (Christians or Muslims)?
................................................................................
....................
***Assimilation is a multifaceted process. Many of the Gypsies in Albania,
Kosovo, Turkey are converts to Islam.
However, as the lament of the Gypsy woman in the NPR program tells us, the
Gypsy Muslims are not treated
as equals by Albanian Muslims (who are white). So much for the vaunted
brotherhood of Islam.
The Gypsies in Romania, Germany, Spain are converts to Christianity and are
just as ill-treated.

For centuries, Gypsies resisted assimilation - - frankly preferring their
gypsy lifestyle.
..........................................................................

>Did they try to migrate to America when mass migration from europe to
>US was going on?  Did they consider migrating back to India?  Given that
>Pakistan was formed for the Muslims of India, will Pakistan be kind enough
>to accomodate these lost brothers.  Are these folks all muslims?  Or there
>are Christians
>among them.  Any left over Hindus among them?
...........................................................................
*** There are more than 1 million people of Gypsy heritage in North America.
Some Gypsies have recently reconverted from Islam to Hinduism. ( See Isabel
Fonseca's book on this.)
..........................................................................

>It hurts me to see the word Gypsy used only in the context of prosecution
>(including in the movie Hunchback of Notre Dame).  Is taking prosecution
>without
>doing any thing significant to improve your lot, a part of Indian
>genes/culture/tradition.
>
>Is there emphasis on education, business, and excellence in the modern
>european Gypsy
>cultures.  With the falling of borders in many parts of Europe, many of the
>gypsies
>(at least the ones from Italy) can move to safer pastures.
................................................................................
.....................
*** In recent decades a Gypsy intelligentsia has risen in Eastern Europe
and the U. S.
......................................................................


Regards,

c. j. s. wallia

>
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------
C. J. S. Wallia,  Ph.D.
Publisher, IndiaStar Review of Books
http://www.indiastar.com
Phone and Fax: (510) 848-8200
P.O. Box 5582, Berkeley, CA 94705, U.S.A.
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