HINDUS WANT Switzerland to issue an official apology and compensate the Verdingkinder (contract children), whom the authorities reportedly coerced into horrible lives in the past.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was a dark chapter in Switzerland history when children from poor urban families were reportedly forcibly taken away from their parents and sent to perform hard labour on farms and it happened till mid-1950s.

It is alleged that many of these children were frequently beaten and even sexually abused, given little food, and were not permitted to talk or receive Christmas presents.

 Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, argued that it was immoral for Switzerland to steal the childhood of these children and subject them to a loveless life full of loneliness. Formal apology and adequate compensation would be a “step in the right direction”, Zed added.