Freedom in the World 2021: India drops from 'Free' to 'Partly Free' status

India, the world’s most populous democracy, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dropped from a ‘Free’ to a ‘Partly Free’ status, according to the ‘Freedom in the World 2021’ report by Freedom House, a US-based non-profit. With this downgrade, the report noted that less than 20% of the world's population now lives in a ‘Free’ country, the smallest proportion since 1995. This also marked the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedom.

The ‘Freedom in the World 2021’ report noted the distress caused to several lakh interstate migrant workers, who were grossly affected by the “ham-fisted” lockdown. The report also mentioned that the ruling Hindu nationalist movement ‘encouraged the scapegoating of Muslims’, who were disproportionately blamed for the spread of the coronavirus and faced attacks by vigilante mobs.

You can check the global interactive map here. 

“The fall of India from the upper ranks of free nations could have a particularly damaging impact on global democratic standards. Political rights and civil liberties in the country have deteriorated since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, with increased pressure on human rights organisations, rising intimidation of academics and journalists, and a spate of bigoted attacks, including lynchings, aimed at Muslims. The decline only accelerated after Modi’s re-election in 2019. Last year, the government intensified its crackdown on protesters opposed to a discriminatory citizenship law and arrested dozens of journalists who aired criticism of the official pandemic response,” the report said.

“Judicial independence has also come under strain. In one case, a judge was transferred immediately after reprimanding the police for taking no action during riots in New Delhi that left over 50 people, mostly Muslims, dead. In December, Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, approved a law that prohibits forced religious conversion through interfaith marriage, which critics fear will effectively restrict interfaith marriage in general. Authorities have already arrested a number of Muslim men for allegedly forcing Hindu women to convert to Islam,” the report added.

Published annually since 1972, ‘Freedom in the World’ reports on 195 countries and 15 related and disputed territories used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders.