"perhaps it is worth noting that some in the Janata party have called for a return to "sutee," or ritual wife-burning (mandated) when the husband dies. So progressive, those Indians."
--HUH??? Where did you get that? The Janata party does not exist any longer and if you are talking about the BJP, they will NEVER win another election in India if they say something like that. Dont argue with me on that I live in this country.
Yup the "progressive Indians" have elected women Prime Ministers in the past and even today the Leader of the Ruling Party is a "Catholic" women of foreign origin who could have easily been the Prime Minister had she not refused it herself. Can you ever imagine something like that in "progressive America"? I cant.
Yah, India is really progressive. That's why so many immigrants are streaming to live there. But I'm sure you're right about the BJP.
As for electing whoever, that's hardly a sign of an "advanced" society. Great Britain elected a Jewish-born Disraeli at the very time it began down the long road to socialism. You, above all, should know that diversity does not equal common sense.