In Croatia, a Roma conference ponders whether the community can be termed Indian diaspora

In October last year, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) had announced that the Republic of Croatia would be hosting an international conference in its capital Zagreb just two days after International Romani Day on April 8 this year. Then, weeks before the two-day conference, the organisers notified that the discussions would focus on a unique subject: Roma as the Indian diaspora.

The ICCR’s announcement had come after a visit by the organisation’s director-general Dinesh K. Patnaik to Zagreb, where he had met with Veljko Kajtazi, member of the Croatian Parliament, also the former president of Kali Sara, an organisation of the Romani people in Croatia.