Mihir Bose’s pessimism regarding India’s future is misplaced (No dazzling dawn for midnight’s children, 2 August). Starting with nothing in 1947 after 200 years of colonial rule, India has slowly, steadily built a nation which today has the fastest-growing economy. Such was India’s immense diversity that many in the west did not think it would last long. India has achieved this miracle and remained a vibrant democracy. Narendra Modi, the prime minister, has ushered in a new form of governance whereby corruption is being squeezed out along with the politics of dividing the country on grounds of caste and religion. Modi is not shy of saying that the vast majority of the country is Hindu and that some of the values they hold dear should be acknowledged. This Nitin Mehta
Croydon
• It was very painful to read the accounts from people affected by the partition of India in 1947 (‘The wounds have never healed’, G2, 3 August). My grandmother’s family, from Muthada in Punjab, India, protected Muslims as the senseless killings occurred throughout the Punjab and helped them get across the border. She was never bitter about the fact that the partition split her Sikh homeland. She, like many Sikhs of her generation, saw Muslims and Hindus as brothers and sisters to be cared for like your own. Today, I am very grateful to my friends from Punjab, Pakistan, who treat Sikhs with great respect given what has happened.
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