Skip to main content

India "slides" in liberal democracy index after Modi came to power: EU-assisted report

Even as India goes to polls, a recent European Union-assisted Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) report, claiming to provide "new ways to study the nature, causes, and consequences of democracy embracing its multiple meanings", has raised the alarm that "freedom of expression, media, and civil society are under threat", especially in "key countries, such as Brazil, India, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and the United States."
Noting that "autocratization is now manifesting in a number of large countries, including Brazil, India, Russia, Turkey, and the United States", the report ranks 178 countries across the globe for its liberal democracy index (LDI) to say that "the recent significant declines in liberal democracy in India and the United States alone have affected some 1.6 billion people, while less than 1 million people benefited from the improvements in Bhutan and Vanuatu."
The 2018 report ranks India's DLI at 81, down from 78 a year earlier. Among the neighbours, while Pakistan and Bangladesh rank worse than India, 109 and 135 respectively, three other neighbours rank better -- Bhutan 62, Nepal 70 and Sri Lanka 75.
If small European countries are best performers (Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Switzerland and Denmark), among other major countries, Australia ranks 8, Germany 14, UK 16, Canada 20, Japan 25, USA 31, Israel 53, Brazil 56, China 167, and worst is North Korea,178.
Asserting that "during the last two years, there is a striking rise in the share of the world’s population living in countries backsliding on democracy", the report says that the countries that are part of a global autocratization trend include India, the United States, Brazil, Russia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Turkey, Thailand, Ukraine and Poland." 
Pointing out that the world’s most populous democracies – the United States and India – have joined other democracies that "registered as backsliders" during the preceding year, such as Brazil, Hungary, Poland, and Suriname, the report insists, "The pattern of backsliding in the most populous democracy – India – exemplifies this trend."
According to the report, "In India, the infringements on media freedom and the civil society activities of democracy following the election of a Hindu-nationalist government have started to undermine the longest-standing and most populous democracy in the Global South", even though "the main indicators of the core electoral aspects of democracy do not show significant decline."
The report wonders, "It remains to be seen if this trend will be reversed in the coming years or if India will descend further into the authoritarian regime spectrum – as during their authoritarian interlude from 1975-77."
According to the report, "The most populous democracy in the world, India, is at risk. Its level of democracy has declined significantly over the last decade. The disquieting trend particularly concerns freedom of speech and alternative sources of information, civil society, the rule of law, and some electoral aspects."
Underlining that "much of these changes have taken place after the Bharatiya Janata Party won the parliamentary elections in 2014 and its leader, the current prime minister, Narendra Modi, assumed office", the report describes him as "a hard-line Hindu nationalist".
Providing a 10-year comparison, the report says, multiple indicators in the V-Dem liberal democracy index show that "only one indicator – for the quality of the voters’ registry – has improved... All others have either stayed the same or declined over the last ten years, and the latter include no fewer than 19 indicators."
The report believes, "While there are about 12,000 newspapers circulating in India today, the media is increasingly being censored. Several newly introduced or more harshly enforced laws hinder free speech and encourage censorship. For example, India’s law on defamation contains prison sentences of up to two years and is used to silence critical journalists at an increasing rate."
"Moreover", it says, "Sedition laws that were upheld by the courts in 2016 even allow harsh punishment of people accused of inciting 'dissatisfaction' – disloyalty and all feelings on enmity – towards the government. Its existence serves as a deterrent and encourages self-censorship."
It continues, "Harassment of journalists is also on the rise. Many journalists have been murdered or threatened for reporting critically on the actions of the ruling party. Three journalists were killed in march 2018 alone."
'For example", the report says, "Editor Gauri Lankesh, who was a known feminist and critic of the caste system as well as of the Hindu nationalists, was shot dead in September 2017. A hardline Hindu nationalist was arrested in connection to her murder but no sentence has been handed down." It adds, "The sharp decline in the V-Dem indicators on freedom of expression − in particular self-censorship and media harassment − refect the increasingly adverse environment for members of the media."
Coming to civil society, the report says, "The autocratization-process in India has also led to a partial closing of the space for civil society. The government increasingly restricts the entry and exit of civil society organizations by using a law on foreign funding for NGOs, the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA). As of 2017, 20,000 CSOs – mainly working on human rights and environmental issues – have lost their licenses. After that only 13,000 CSOs remain to continue working unconstrained."
The report also notes, "Three UN special rapporteurs have urged prime minister Modi to repeal the FCRA, claiming it is progressively used more to 'silence organisations involved in advocating civil, political, economic, social, environmental or cultural priorities, which may differ from those backed by the government'.
Observing a "noticeably large drop in the V-Dem indicators on the ease of entry and exit, and the level of repression of civil society organizations in India", the report says, this suggests that "law enforcement is gradually becoming less predictable, and that the state fails to effectively protect its citizens from politically motivated killings."
Even though pointing out that "elections in Asia’s oldest democracy have remained free and fair and open to multi-party competition", the report says, "Nevertheless, several indictors capturing how clean elections are, have declined. In particular, intimidation and violence have increased at polling stations."
Thus, "Party agents intimidate, harass and bribe voters, in effect preventing them from casting their votes freely. electoral violence includes deadly attacks against polling officials and voters on their way to polling stations."
---
Download full report HERE

Comments

TRENDING

Policy Bazaar seems to think, not Right to Education but insurance ensures a kid's school admission

While frequent advertisements on TV are extremely jarring, I was a little amused while watching a Policy Bazaar-sponsored advertisement. The advisement by one of India's most well-known online insurance brokers sees a woman asking a kid entering the house why he hasn't been to school. The kid enters in with a bag full of vegetables in his hand which he presumably bought in the market at a time he should have been in the school.

Majority white collar workers fear job loss as AI grows at CAGR of 25-35% in India

An Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) study, "Labour-force Perception about AI: A Study on Indian White-collar Workers", has revealed that as many as 60% of white collar workers fear job loss as a result of artificial intelligence (IA) being introduced in Indian industry, while only 53% "hope" that new jobs will be created.

Has Gujarat missed the Artificial Intelligence bus like it missed the IT bus in 1990s?

Has Gujarat missed the Artificial Intelligence (AI) bus as it did the Information Technology (IT) bus in the 1990s despite claiming to be an industrial powerhouse sought to be promoted by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi? It would seem so if the latest study by the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) "Labour-force Perception about AI: A Study on Indian White-collar Workers" is any indication.

Addressing caste discrimination in US higher education: Rutgers report sparks controversy

In a surprise move, an American university has published a "controversial" report titled "Caste-Based Discrimination in US Higher Education and at Rutgers". The report has sparked debate, as no sooner was it released than an Indian diaspora advocacy group, CasteFiles, filed a complaint against Rutgers University and Prof. Audrey Truschke, co-chair of the task force that prepared the report. The complaint, filed under Title VI of the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleges violations of the right to education free from harassment and discrimination.

Modi govt distancing from Adanis? MoEFCC 'defers' 1500 MW project in Western Ghats

Is the Narendra Modi government, in its third but  what would appear to be a weaker avatar, seeking to show that it would keep a distance, albeit temporarily, from its most favorite business house, the Adanis? It would seem so if the latest move of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) latest to "defer" the Adani Energy’s application for 1500 MW Warasgaon-Warangi Pump Storage Project is any indication. Quoting the September 27 MoEFCC's Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) meeting,  released on October 2, a senior scholar-activist of the top environmental advocacy group South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) has  reported  that in a "respite" to forest dwelling communities, fragile biodiversity and community conservation areas, the EAC has "rejected" the Adani application for project. However, the window for continuing with the controversial project hasn't been entirely closed. To quote Parineeta Dandekar, the ...

NHRC failing to 'effectively address' human rights violations: NGO groups tell UN-linked body

In a joint submission to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions' (GANHRI's) Sub Committee on Accreditation (SCA), two civil society groups -- All India Network of NGOs and Individuals working with National and State Human Rights Institutions (AiNNI) and Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) --  have said that the  National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC's) accreditation, deferred in  2016, 2023, and 2024, fails to find space on its website. In their submission to the top global body which coordinates the relationship between NHRIs and the United Nations human rights system, AiNNI and ANNI said, the accreditation status of NHRC "has not been updated" since 2017, and as of September 21, 2024, the "website falsely states that the NHRC has retained its 'A' accreditation status from SCA for four consecutive five-year terms." They added, such omission diminishes "civil society's trust" in N...

ICT services exports: Despite India's 8% growth rate, China with 19% giving 'stiff competition'

A World Bank report, while praising India, a “middle-income” country driving the surge in internet users across the globe, states that if in 2018, only one in five Indians used the internet, by 2022 there was already “a staggering 170 percent growth in internet users”. But a deeper look in the report suggests two things: One, Indian IT business is facing stiff competition from China, and two, insofar as speed is internet speed is concerned, India has far to go.