Does democracy need permission of others?

Noah Feldman, a professor at Harvard, writes that India's Supreme Court indirectly helped Hindus in a recent ruling which held that any reference to religion or caste will disqualify an election result. An earlier judgement held that Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life. "Thus Muslim candidates can't invoke their creed to win votes, but Hindu candidates can," writes Feldman. Seems that Feldman has little knowledge of Indian society. Hindu and Muslim names are distinct, Muslims often dress differently to deliberately differentiate themselves, and there is no restriction in being seen alongside a priest or a Mullah. The Founding Fathers may have stated clearly that the US is not founded on Christianity but would Hussein Obama have any hope of being elected president had he not converted to Christianity in childhood? "In effect, secularism and Hinduism are treated as identical," objects Feldman. Is it wrong? Hindus not only have millions of gods, but goddesses as well, which infuriates Muslims, since they see women as inferior to men. Each god has been assigned an animal, which makes all animals sacred. Even plants are seen as living things, perhaps an early form of protection of environment. But most importantly, Hindus do not convert which means there is no need to conquer other faiths and force them to convert. Surely, this tolerance of every faith and living thing is secularism? Is everything great about Hindus? No. Caste has become more entrenched, as politicians have ruthlessly exploited caste and reservation for votes, and the explosion in population has resulted in conflict between humans and animals, as habitat has been destroyed for cultivation. If Feldman is trying to create friction between Hindus and Muslims perhaps he should be more worried about the US and Europe. On interrogation the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad told Dr James Mitchell that Muslims will triumph "through immigration and by outbreeding non-Muslims". "He said like-minded jihadi brothers would immigrate to Western democracies and to the United States, they would wrap themselves in our civil liberties for protection, they would support themselves in our welfare systems while they spread their jihadi message, and then, when the time was right, they would rise up and attack," said Mitchell. A report by the Pew Research Center said that Muslims will outnumber Christians by 2070. A Clash of Civilizations has already been predicted and there are conflicts in almost all Western countries, which are being masked by political correctness. After all, there is a long history of such conflicts with copious amounts of bloodshed. Perhaps, Feldman is trying to divert attention to India. Futile.