Letter: A race to end the 'disease of ignorance'

Sir: My sympathies lie with the group of Indian ex-servicemen pictured in your article ('Home's what you fight for', 22 November). God bless them for helping us in our time of need.

As a former white native of the Indian subcontinent, I react to the effects of the racial bigotry implicit in Fascism whenever and wherever it raises its ugly head to disrupt racial harmony.

My father served in both the British and Indian Army and it was not until our family returned to England in 1948, after Independence, that I became conscious of racial prejudice.

My fellow pupils at the Christian school I attended in Bombay were of varied religious backgrounds - Hindus, Muslims, Jews, etc - whose parents' main concern was that they should have a good education amd mature into good citizens. We boxed, played cricket and hockey, and went cross-country running and swimming together in a discrimination-free environment.

There is only one race and that is the human race, but many religions, which are variant paths to the same goal: union with God.

Racial discrimination is the disease of ignorance. Tolerance of the cultures of our fellow human beings is the mark of a civilised and balanced society, without which attribute the human species will become extinct on the path of self-destruction.

Yours faithfully,

BRIAN WOOLLARD

London, W5