NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia on Wednesday said India was the only country in the region where members of minority communities could aspire to become the head of judiciary because of the full play given to constitutional values and ideals.

“I am proud to be an Indian,” declared the CJI. “India is the only country where a member of the minority Parsi community with a population of 1,67,000, like myself, can aspire to attain the post of the Chief Justice of India,” he said, adding, “These things do not happen in our neighbouring countries.”

The remark comes in the backdrop of minority Hindu community members fleeing Pakistan, complaining of harassment at the hands of government and seeking asylum in India.

After giving his own example to highlight the equal treatment given to minority communities in India, Justice Kapadia said, “Thus, we realize the values of constitutional ideals and principles.”

Attorney general G E Vahanvati, who belongs to another miniscule minority community of Dawoodi Bohras and has risen to become the country’s top law officer, appeared to share the CJI’s sentiments. He said, “In 1931, Winston Churchill, in a derogatory reference, said India was only a concept and it was no more a unified country than the equator. Sixty-six years later, Churchill has been proved terribly wrong.”

