What is the meaning of this complex sentence?

Question

The historical roots of democracy in India are well worth considering, if only because the connection with public arguments is often missed, through the temptation to attribute the Indian commitment to democracy simply to the impact of British influence.

For context — this is taken from Amartya Sen's speech (PDF).

Answer 1

I think the comma after missed is confusing the meaning. I read this as:

1. It is worthwhile considering the historical origins of Indian democracy.
2. It is worthwhile, even if all you gain is an understanding of the connection to (current) public arguments.
3. This connection is often missed because people assume that the Indian commitment to democracy only came from the British influence.

Answer 2

This sentence makes me cry. We can split this sentence up into:

It's worth it to consider the historical roots of democracy in India

BECAUSE

People don't often take it (the historical roots of democracy in India) into consideration in arguments (as in, 'debate' or any attempt to make a point about the roots of democracy or democracy itself.)

BECAUSE

People think that Indian democracy is ONLY because of the British influence, and no other interesting factors.

Taken together, the author is saying that the roots of democracy in India was caused by many more factors than simply the British influence (since the British colonized India and are a democratic nation). The author encourages looking into these extra factors so that people are aware of them when discussing democracy in India.