I read Lord Parekh's address to the House of Lords in your November issue and found myself in agreement on almost every single point he raised, especially one close to my own heart as a former English teacher. British, European and American investors have only lately started recognising the geopolitical realities of the new Asia. Not before time because the rise of the giants of the third world was predictable decades ago. India is a country where Britain has a cultural advantage because of the colonial heritage and we need to cultivate that advantage seriously if our own future well-being is to be assured.

The investment opportunities for British companies in India needs no argument. It is Lord Parekh's highlighting of another important field, that of education, which gives opportunities. Our natural advantage is the fact that many millions of Indians are bilingual. English is a second language in India and it is widely spoken, especially amongst the educated classes, but there is a great appetite amongst the lower classes also to learn English. The university expansion programme in India described by Lord Parekh can only take place successfully if there is a sufficient supply of high quality teachers. As the honourable peer says, retired British teachers and academics could spend a year or two in India engaged in a constructive undertaking that is mutually beneficial to Indian students and to the latter life experiences of the teacher. There is a shortage of better trained teachers and academics in India at the moment. Of course, the remuneration on offer for British teachers would be less than that received by teachers in Europe but this is the sort of mission for people who have more than material gain as a motive, and I use the word mission in an idealistic sense rather than a patronizing one. India is a beautiful country in which to live. There is very little to be found in Europe that is not also available in India. Its culture is rich and its heritage includes Shakespearean scholarship as well as the many notable British and Indian writers who have contributed worthily to English language literature. I regret that my own age and health would not allow me to consider going there on such a mission but I believe this idea of Lord Parekh's should be looked at by both governments and implemented.

D J Dibley
London

Class Risings
As a regular reader of Asian Affairs, I am mystified by the fact that none of your correspondents seem to have questioned the 'party line' being propagated around the world, especially in America and Europe, that the recent uprisings in the Middle East represent a great popular movement for democracy. Well, the people of Tunisia and Egypt, and other countries, are certainly sick of the repressive regimes under which they have lived all their lives. But the streets of Tunis and Cairo were filled with poor people whose principles are informed by their poverty. They want jobs and living wages and education for their children and affordable housing. They want to be released from the drudgery and penury which blights their lives. These are class uprisings, like it or lump it, Asian Affairs. Window dressing of the system by allowing elected governments to apparently rule third world countries will not cure the poverty from which the common people suffer. We have seen a mass movement in India recently against corruption. Hopefully, these tremendous events will set an example to the poor of other countries and we will see Arab Springs from Pakistan to Peru.

Thomas McGrath
London

Water, water everywhere, but little fit to drink
Drinking water is a worldwide concern. Millions around the world don’t get safe drinking water, and suffer from many, often fatal, waterborne disease like typhoid and cholera. Developing countries have been struggling to provide drinking water to its ever-growing population in far-flung villages and city slums.

What is alarming is that even in countries like the US, water is reported to be contaminated in as many as 42 states. A study showed that there are 140 unregulated chemicals in drinking water available in the US, many with no permissible standards at all. Which means having poison in drinking water is ‘legal’ as no standards have been set for many chemicals. As many as 52 of these chemicals are linked to cancer, 41 to reproductive toxicity, 36 to developmental toxicity and 16 to immune system damage.

In many poor countries, biological contamination in water is not only common, but is also a mass killer. Statistics show that two out of 10 people don’t have access to safe drinking water. In towns it is common for sewerage lines leaking and seeping into the pipes which supply drinking water to homes. While the rich can afford to install domestic water purification systems, the poor expose themselves to risk of disease ranging from killer cholera to hepatitis.

Indeed, therefore, providing people with clean drinking water should be the world’s greatest concern, specially, as contaminated water is the single largest cause for spread of lethal waterborne diseases. The health of the people depend on the quality of water they drink. Both the international agencies like the various bodies of the UN, NGOs and national governments should join in a worldwide effort to get rid off the world from waterborne diseases by providing the people with clean and healthy drinking water. Water should be the number one health and environmental concern of the world.

Julie Brown
Los Angeles

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