Broad-Minded US People Deserve to be Congratulated

In a democratic set-up, it does not matter if the majority plays the vital role in the formation of the government, or if the majority of elected representatives govern the state. In my opinion, true democracy is one in which the supreme place is accorded to tolerance, while simultaneously making firm room for acceptability.

The constant development of the spirit of tolerance and acceptability is essential for the maturity of the institutions of democracy. Furthermore, these two-tolerance and acceptability-have become more important than ever in today’s world, where people are growing closer day-by-day, and relations amongst people of different races, ethnic-groups and communities are taking a new turn via the inevitable cooperation of individuals from different levels and different walks of life around the world.

The election of 36 year-old Indian-American Bobby Jindal to the post of Governor of Louisiana, a conservative American state, is a milestone along the journey of more than two hundred years of American democracy. Jindal’s victory has also added a new dimension to the system’s success by setting the best example of tolerance and acceptability on the one hand, while reflecting the maturity of the United States’ institution on the other.

Furthermore, it is a lesson to be learnt by those who profess real love for both democracy and the welfare of the people. It is especially a lesson for the people of India-a country of composite cultures whose roots of democracy run extremely deep, but where many times due to their vested interests some people often run contrary to those ideals.

On having elected Bobby Jindal to the post of Governor, the broad-minded people of the United States and the State of Louisiana in particular deserve to be congratulated. Simultaneously, the maturity of American democracy deserves to be saluted.

Dr. Ravindra Kumar is a universally renowned Gandhian scholar, Indologist and writer. He is the former vice chancellor of CCS University in Meerut, India.

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