The Romani Hindu Faith/Dharma, Culture & History

  How the Ambedkarites don't understand religion/faith: The Ambedkarites are among the groups actively encouraging various segments of society to renounce  Sanātana Dharma   ( A Sanskrit term meaning "eternal law" or "eternal order." In modern contexts, it is often used as a term for  Hinduism , emphasizing its ancient and traditional roots and principles. ) . They engage in direct cooperation with Islamic Da'wah ( An Arabic term meaning "invitation" or "call," referring to the Islamic duty of inviting others to the faith, i.e.  proselytisation = Islamic missionary work) and Christian missionary organisations. This is despite the fact that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar himself was sharply critical of Islam, as he wrote: "The (Muslim) mission to break the idols thus became the mission to destroy Buddhism." and "Islam destroyed Buddhism, not only in India, but wherever it went." My primary concern is that the Ambedkarites are effec...

A certain faction within the Ambedkarite movement perpetuates a misunderstanding regarding the Romani people. They incorrectly assert that all Roma are Dalits.  This view stems from a fundamental lack of comprehension of our distinct history, social structures, and lived realities. We, the Roma, explicitly reject being labelled as the "Dalits of Europe", because s uch claims are not only historically inaccurate but also socially misleading. Within the Romani societies, there exists a group analogous to the Dalits, whom we term  Degeša  (plural of the singular form  Degeš ) used among the Servika Roma tribe of Slovakia (and the Czech Republic post-WW2). These are individuals and families associated with tasks considered ritually impure according to the Romipen's traditional Romani norms, such as working with leather, handling corpses, residing near or on the cemeteries, dealing with waste or excrement, or street sweeping, as well those who engage in taboo behaviours s...

The Bashalde controversy & who is Ian Hancock   In among the Romani diaspora within the United States of America of the "Hungarian-Slovak Gypsies" (the Servika & Ungrika Roma tribes) started the controversy, when Ian Hancock and Bill Duna innovatively created term for the musician "caste" the Bašaldé (Bashalde) to become a name of the whole tribe in the USA, as most Servika & Ungrika Roma who came there belonged to the musicians or were at least the blacksmiths with musician tradition (I will explain it later on). This controversy was brought to the light by Stephen Piskor, a widely known person of the Hungarian-Slovak Roma community from Cleveland, OH. He is a real Rom, related to me via family ties of the wider family of mine (Fajta) who came to the USA as immigrants from Eastern Slovakia, so I am not underestimating his point of view, I am just explaining to you my viewpoint. There are the Roma who disagree with this term "Bashalde", as they...

Today, August 2, is the Roma (& Sinti) Holocaust Memorial Day. The Romani Holocaust (often referred to as the Porrajmos - a term that, while widely used, is linguistically controversial, as in some dialects it translates to "rape", alternative and more right terms include Samudaripen - Genocide, Kali Traš - Black Fear, and Sarvanaš—a word which closest translation may suggest a total or complete disappearance)   did hit the up to 2.5 million Roma, Sinti-Manouché and Kale as the direct victims who were killed by the Nazi Germany & its collaborators. The date of 2 August was chosen for the memorial because on the night of 2–3 August 1944, 2,897 Roma, mostly women, children and elderly people, were killed in the "Gypsy families camp" ("Zigeunerfamilienlager") at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Exact number of the killed Roma & Sinti is not known because there was not full statistics, and also at the concentration camps they counted usually...

This date, May 16, marks a pivotal moment in history, when the Romani prisoners incarcerated in the so-called “Zigeunerlager” (Gypsy Camp), also known as the “Zigeunerfamilienlager” (Camp of the Gypsy Families) at Auschwitz-Birkenau, initiated a courageous act of resistance. The uprising began upon learning of the German Nazi regime’s intention to liquidate the camp by exterminating the remaining 6,000 Romani detainees in the gas chambers. On the night of May 16th, 1944, the Roma rose in defiance against the SS guards, armed only with tools of labour—hammers, pickaxes, and shovels. Through their bravery and resistance, no Roma were murdered in the gas chambers on that day. This revolt stands as the sole documented instance of an uprising at Auschwitz, and it is rightly honoured as Romani Resistance Day. It is essential to view this event within the broader context of the Romani Holocaust—often referred to as the Porrajmos (a term that, while widely used, is linguistically controversial...