Common wealth Games

Intriguing that the Commonwealth survives when the British Empire is long gone. There are probably economic benefits involved as well as preferences if a citizen of a member country wishes to emigrate/immigrate to another member country.

India is a member and is also, of course, host to The Commonwealth Games at this very moment. I wish the country well in this huge endeavour. However, I was pondering what became of the Untouchables, a name I recall learning about when I was a child in England. My research uncovered a not-too-pretty picture. India's caste system seems to be alive and well. If we think we live in a country of differing wealth, rich-poor and middle-class, and if you've already had breakfast, Google the word Untouchable. You will be shocked!

At least 160 million Indian Untouchables are seen by the rest of the country as less than human. If you consider Untouchable men must find it tough, it is far worse for Untouchable women, who are gang-raped with abandon and the sub-continent's police not only ignore the crime but participate in it!

I was checking Voltaire's whimsical comment about us living in the best of all possible worlds. Whatever way you slice it, we still have a way to go. Whoever decides the credentials required for hosting the next Commonwealth Games should perhaps insist it be a good example for other nations of the world, or at least The Commonwealth. India, I fear, while Untouchables are part of the culture, failed that test.