Letter: Islam majority

PETER POPHAM refers to Pakistan possibly being a "ghastly mistake" ("Locked in an embrace of hate", 31 May). A mistake by whom?

In 1945, Jinnah's Muslim League which had adopted the goal of Pakistan as the essence of its manifesto, won all the Muslim seats in the Indian central legislature. These elections were based on a wide (albeit limited) adult franchise. So the basis of Pakistan remains the collective will of a people demonstrated via the democratic process. Why is it that when Western (i.e. white) societies exercise their democratic powers there is a sacred deference to the will of the people, when the same exercise by an Asian nation can so easily be dismissed as a "ghastly mistake".

Riaz Hussain

London NW1