On Saturday 5 August the Guardian review had a line up of writers led by Salman Rushdi, Pankaj Mishra and others who all painted a very dark picture of India and none of them could get themselves to acknowledge a single Indian achievement. The following letter was published on Thursday 17 August 2017.

Midnight’s children have achieved a lot

‘Midnight’s children have achieved a lot,’ writes Nitin Mehta. In the article titled Partition, 70 years on (Review, 5 August) your contributors failed to acknowledge a single Indian achievement. India is a relative place of calm. Tens of millions of people from different faiths and ethnic background go about their lives with no fear. Many have achieved the highest positions in Indian society. This is a country where persecuted Zoroastrians, Bahá’ís, Tibetans and many others have found a safe home; that embraced mother Theresa and gave her the highest honour; where Jewish people have lived for 2,000 years and never faced any persecution. India’s education system has produced people who now dominate NASA and the Silicon Valley in US. Some Indian educational institutions are among the best in the world. India is a world leader in IT, it has a multi billion-dollar space commerce business, launching satellites for many countries. It is one of the few countries to have designed a super computer. There are 56 Indian companies featured in the Forbes 2000 list of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. Midnight’s children have achieved a lot.

Nitin Mehta
London

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