It has fought off Muslim terrorists in Kashmir, Sikh terrorists in Punjab, Christian terrorists in Nagaland, and Hindu terrorists in Assam and across the country. It understands that you cannot blame the whole community for the sins of a few.

Should we fear the fact that Europe is no longer a purely Jewish Christian and white continent? Will EU citizens whose origins are in other continents and whose religion is Hindu or Islam, Sikh or Buddhist, be able to identify with European values and culture?

It is entirely fitting that the Indian team has been led by captains from each of its major faiths Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Christians, and a colorful Sikh. A land divided by caste, creed, color, culture, cuisine, custom, and costume is united in consensus around a great conviction cricket.

But, the fact is that the last elections, five years ago, gave the world extraordinary phenomenon of an election being won by a woman political leader of Italian origin and Roman Catholic faith, Sonia Gandhi, who then made way for a Sikh, Mohan Singh, to be sworn in as Prime Minister by a Muslim, President Abdul Kalam, in a country 81 percent Hindu.

NEW YORK The massacre in Norway in July 2011 and the recent attack on a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, were the work of right wing extremists who sought to remake the world in their neo Nazi image. Likewise, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were the work of Islamist extremists who view other religions and cultures as a threat.

By contrast, in Chahal v. The United Kingdom, the Court was not persuaded that assurances from the Government of India that a Sikh separatist would enjoy the same legal protection as any other Indian citizen, and that he would have no reason to expect mistreatment of any kind at the hand of the Indian authorities would provide an adequate guarantee of safety.

The 2004 elections were won by the Congress party, led by a woman political leader of Roman Catholic faith and Italian descent (Sonia Gandhi), who made way for a Sikh prime minister (Manmohan Singh) to be sworn by a Muslim (President Abdul Kalam) in a country that is 81 Hindu. That single moment captured much of what elections have meant for this diverse democracy.

Yet the US still refuses to act, even after this year s string of shocking incidents the massacre in a movie theatre in Colorado, an attack on a Sikh community in Milwaukee, another on a shopping mall in Oregon, and many more before the ruthless slaughter of first graders and school staff in Newtown. The gun lobby in the US remains powerful, and politicians are afraid to counter it.

As long as there is a Church of England, if you are Jewish or Muslim or Sikh, there is a subtle level at which you will simply not feel fully English. But because the US Founders many of them descended from people fleeing official religious persecution guaranteed that there would never be a state sanctioned religion, no religious group in America, no matter how small, is made to feel marginalized.