HINDUS WANT various countries of Europe to offer adequate protection to their Roma (Gypsy) and other vulnerable populations during the current cold snap, which has reportedly already claimed over 200 lives with hundreds hospitalized.

The extreme weather has reportedly affected much of Europe, with Ukraine being the hardest hit, followed by Poland, France, Italy, Bosnia, Serbia, Netherlands, etc.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that prejudice, maltreatment, exclusion and apartheid conditions faced by Roma population in Europe for centuries should not come in the way to protect them in the current cold snap. Roma needed dignity and respect like other Europeans and they were not getting it.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged leaders of various religions and denominations, including His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, to come to the support of those affected as religion told us to help the helpless.

Zed, strongly condemning Europe’s continuing maltreatment of Roma, stressed that it was time for Europe to wake-up and do something concrete to end Roma apartheid. European politicians needed to exhibit a strong will, commitment, intention and responsibility to bring concrete and lasting results on the reality of the Roma population, instead of just weaving dreams in capital boardrooms.

Europe needed to clarify to the world where it stood on the issue of Roma and how long it would let the clearly visible Roma apartheid continue throughout almost every European locale, Zed asked.

Their alarming condition was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as they reportedly regularly faced social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, unusually high unemployment rates, etc., Zed argued.