Indian democracy
Sir, —Mr John Kirk says that it is wrong for a comparatively affluent New Zealander to judge India hastily by hu own standards. Indeed it is. But Mr Kirk, after a brief sponsored visit, has no compunction about making judgments: he is “certain" that the situation in India is improving. Some of us, with perhaps a slightly longer acquaintance with India, are by no means so sure. It may well be that India, with her very large and diverse population. needs the flexibility-— disorderly though it sometimes was—provided by the political system of pre-June, 1975 day's. Mrs Gandhi’s •disciplined democracy" may well collapse under the strain of, say. two consecutive poor monsoons; there may soon be little to take its place. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh provide object lessons in this respect. And. whatever the country, whether it is “affluent” or not, detention without trial and a controlled press must always cause genuine democrats concern. —Yours, etc., I. J. CATANACH. October 9, 1976.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19761012.2.116.1
Bibliographic details
Press, 12 October 1976, Page 20
Word Count
164Indian democracy Press, 12 October 1976, Page 20
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in