India drop from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free’ in freedom index

A leading American think tank has downgraded India to democracy and freedom, calling it a "partly free" country.

Freedom House, a leading US government-sponsored organization, cited the worst human rights situation under Narendra Modi's rule, degrading Indian independence and democracy and making it a "partly free" country. For the first time in almost 25 years, India's ranking has seen a decline.

The Washington-based think tank released a report entitled "Freedom in the World" on Wednesday evening, March 3, saying that discrimination against its Muslim citizens continues in the world's largest democracy and that critics of the government and journalists Incidents of harassment have increased. Due to these reasons, India's position in this year's rankings has come down considerably.

The report cites "a number of years in which the Hindu nationalist government and its allies have been leading the way in increasingly violent and discriminatory practices."    

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The report also mentions the sufferings of the migrant workers during the anti-Muslim riots in Delhi last year, sedition cases against government critics and the lockdown imposed by the Modi government to curb the covid-19.

According to the Freedom House report, 100 points are set for the country with the highest level of independence. Thus, India got 67 marks this time as against 71 before. In the ranking of 211 countries in the ranking of independence, India was at the 83rd position and now it has reached the 88th position.   

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"Under the leadership of Modi's Hindu nationalist government, there has been a series of racist attacks on Muslims, including pressure on human rights organizations, harassment of intellectuals and journalists, and lynchings," the report said.

The report said that Modi's success in re-election in 2019 and the steps taken by the government during the Corona virus outbreak have further affected human rights, leading to a decline in the ranking of Indian independence. ۔

The report says that while the Modi government and its allies at the state level continue to crack down on critics of the government, for the spread of the corona virus, "Muslims have been made scapegoats." And they were improperly held responsible. " This led to an increase in attacks on them by Hindu groups.

It said, "Instead of acting as a champion of democratic values ​​and countering the influence of dictatorial countries like China, the Modi government and his party are arbitrarily taking India towards dictatorship."

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 This time, Finland, the European country with the highest number of 100 in the index of independence, has been declared the most independent country in the world, while Syria and Tibet, which are the least independent countries in the world, have got the lowest number.

There are several criteria for the preparation of this report which examine aspects of the country's independence of the judiciary, freedom of expression, freedom of non-governmental organizations and freedom of movement of the people. In all these areas, India's ranking has declined. 

Internet freedom in India got only 51 marks and it was said that internet freedom in India has been steadily declining for the last three years. This includes particular mention of last year's anti-Muslim riots in Delhi. More than 50 people were killed in the riots, most of them Muslims.

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