An Obama Moment For India's Untouchables

Could a person of colour win power in other white-majority countries? Could a member of a beleaguered minority transcend the circumstances of his birth to lead his or her country?

While many analysts in a wide variety of nations, especially in Europe, have concluded that such an event could not occur there in the foreseeable future, India is an exception. Minority politicians have long wielded authority, if not power, in its various high offices. Indeed, India's last general election, in 2004, was won by a woman of Italian heritage and Roman Catholic faith (Sonia Gandhi) who made way for a Sikh (Manmohan Singh) to be sworn in as Prime Minister by a Muslim (President Abdul Kalam) in a country that is 81% Hindu. Not only could it happen here, Indians say, it already has.