The shrinking of space for the media, civil society and the opposition under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is pushing India to the verge of losing its status as a democracy, reported The Wire, quoting a 2020 ‘Democracy Report’ by the Sweden-based V-Dem Institute.
V-Dem is an independent research institute based at the University of Gothenburg and it has been publishing worldwide democracy report, looking at the status of democracies in countries around the world, annually since 2017.
According to the report, for the first time since 2001, autocracies are in the majority and comprise 92 countries that are home to 54 percent of the global population.
It further adds that major G20 nations and all regions of the world are now witnessing the “third wave of autocratisation”.
“India has continued on a path of steep decline, to the extent it has almost lost its status as a democracy,” the report read.
Another aspect of the report was the attacks on the freedom of expression and media freedom. At least 31 countries are facing this problem. In addition, academic freedom has registered an average decline of 13 percent in autocratising countries, one of which is India, over the last 10 years, and the right to peaceful assembly and protest has declined by 14 percent on average in such countries, The Wire quoted the report.
According to the report, India is the largest country verging towards a system of autocracy in terms of population.
The report read: “…the dive in press freedom along with increasing repression of civil society in India associated with the current Hindu-nationalist regime of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
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