New Delhi, November 16 (IANS). Speaking exclusively to IANS, South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, lauded the recent elections in Bihar and its results. Along with this he told what is his relationship with Ghazipur of Uttar Pradesh. High Commissioner Anil Sooklal said about the results of the Bihar assembly elections: “It is not appropriate for me to comment on Indian politics. We are keeping an eye on the developments in India, as is normal for the diplomatic community. We are reporting on them and keeping an eye on the elections because like India, we are also a vibrant democracy. I would like to congratulate the way of election of India and also congratulate the election of India, congratulate those who were successful “This is how democracy seems to work,” An observer team came from South Africa as part of our observer mission. India is the biggest democracy, and the way you conduct elections with the population of Bihar, which I think is more than 10 crore, is in itself greater than the population of South Africa. But, the orderly and peaceful manner in which the elections were conducted, these are all elements that strengthen democracy and help us as well.” “Coming from a democratic society, it is important to see how we can work together and learn from each other to strengthen democracy, because that is what the world needs today.” He said that we see steps being taken by nations that are not inclusive, exclusionary and one-sided, and we forget that democracy is about the people, and the people and their needs must come first. And that’s why elections are so important: to give people the opportunity to decide their leaders through an inclusive, peaceful process, as we saw in Bihar. The High Commissioner of South Africa said that he has a special connection with the village of Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. He said: “My family history goes back to the time of British rule. My great grandfather and great grandfather came from a village in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh and were taken to Durban, my birthplace in Natal province, where they were employed to work on a sugar plantation. I am a fourth generation Indian, my roots are in a village in Ghazipur, and I had the pleasure of visiting that village last weekend. It was my first visit to Ghazipur, where I participated in Ghazipur Literature Festival. I got the opportunity to go to my village and discover it.” He said, “It was a pilgrimage for us, not only for us, but also for my whole family in South Africa, and many people in the Indian community were very excited about this journey to their roots. India is as much a part of my DNA as Africa. I am very happy in the sense that you will see within me the mixing of two streams, the Indian stream and the African stream.” –IANS KK/DKP