Again, on RI, India relations

Again, on RI, India relations
3rd Feb 2010
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/02/03/letters-again-ri-india-relations.html
(In response to my letter of 30th Jan. 2010)
Your editorial on Jan. 26 congratulating India was quite interesting to read, as was its appreciation by K.B. Kale, "India, Indonesians cross cultures" on Jan. 30.
Adding to the editorial and the letter by Kale, I would like to clarify that the assistance to Indonesia from the subcontinent in its fight against the colonizers, in fact, came from the 600-odd Muslim soldiers who deserted the British Indian Army in 1945 to join hands with their Indonesian brethren.
They never returned to areas (now part of India's immediate neighbor) from whence they came and eventually the surviving ones settled in Indonesia, but before that they saw to it that Indonesia did achieve independence.
Their third generation is now living in this beautiful country and still has fond memories of what their elders did for Indonesia. I hope some of them will read this piece and send a comment or two to verify the contention.
As far as Indonesia is concerned, its record in maintaining perfect harmony among various ethnic groups and minorities has been unblemished, thanks largely to the Pancasila ideology that its founders incorporated in its Constitution.
Indonesia never had any expansionist designs or a policy of encroachment, territorial or political, so is unique in that important aspect. There is much the largest democracy in the world could learn from the third-largest.
Although the editorial never touched on this subject, Kale says the Indian Army never raped the whole country; well, it had another alternative on which to practice this sort of a pastime. What the Indian troops did to the Darbar Sahib and the Sikhs is still fresh in the memory. Facts are facts.
I have no authority to make claims on behalf of Indonesians but the fact remains that Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority country in the world and its people are proud of their Islamic heritage.
They don't wish to associate themselves with any other ideology or entity.
Farhan Qutab and Faraz Liaquat, Jakarta