Letter published in the Guardian 21 May 2014
The world’s largest democracy has just concluded a massive election. A population of 1.2 billion with a huge diversity of faiths, languages, ideologies and cultures successfully concluded this amazing feat. There was hardly any violence or vote-rigging and some places recorded a turnout of over 80%. India is a role model to the rest of the world where there is no freedom or democracy. A word of praise from the Guardian would not be out of place. What we had instead was an outpouring of hatred for India and the Hindu majority of the country by Pankaj Mishra (The new face of India, Review, 17 May).
Persecuted Jewish people, Zoroastrians, Baha’is and Tibetan Buddhists have found a safe home in India. Beginning with nothing in 1947 after 200 years of colonial rule, India has slowly but surely forged together a nation which has become a world economic power. The people of India have voted for change, and no amount of crocodile tears from India’s detractors is going to change that. Indeed world leaders have rushed to congratulate the new leadership. It is a shame that the Guardian has failed to acknowledge the democracy of India and allowed an article to be published which did not have an iota of balance.
Nitin Mehta
Croydon, Surrey
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