HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WORLD DEMOCRACY REPORT 2021:
The fifth annual democratic report released by the Swedish V-Dem Institute “Autocratization Goes Viral”, has been published stating the decline of democracy in democratic countries.
India had been on a 0-1 LDI Scale in 2013, but there has been a decline compared to the previous year’s performances.
G20 countries such as Brazil, India, and Turkey are among the top decliners.
India being one of the world’s largest democracies with 1.37 billion people is said to be moving from Democracy to Electoral Autocracy.
The Pandemic Democratic Violations Index indicates that the bar is higher in limiting the freedom of the press.
AUTOCRATIC VS DEMOCRATIC LEADERS? DIFFERENCE?
Autocratic leaders do not consult with their team while making decisions.
Democratic leaders see that decisions reflect the views of their team.
INDIA’S RANK AMONG AUTOCRATIC COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD:
India was ranked seventh in the world as a democratic state in 2010 as a “Electoral Democracy” now being said as an “Electoral Autocracy” from 2020.
India is now being challenged by a growing question of democratic direction that is declining year after year.
REPORT POINTS THAT CHALLENGE INDIA:
India had become as autocratic as Pakistan, worse than neighboring Bangladesh and Nepal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been accused of attacking the media and civil society, disrespecting the opposition, spreading false information, and thus undermining the election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party have also put pressure on civil society organizations and challenged the constitutional commitment.
The Use of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act(UAPA) from 1967 amended in August 2019 is used to intimidate and arrest political opponents.
The US-based Freedom House, gave a statement on the state of democracy in India which tarnishes India’s image as a “partially free democratic” society.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS SAID TO BE DIMINISHED:
The stigma attached to the Supreme Court has been used repeatedly to ban journalists and media outlets.
A typical example is that journalists reporting on COVID-19 faced problems in discussing the issues of COVID-19 which clearly shows that the electoral autocracy system is growing.
Several students were also known to be punished for participating in the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA)Protests.
INDIA’S RESPONSE TO THE REPORTS:
“You are using the division of democracy and independence … You want a real answer, hypocrisy,” Minister Of External Affairs, Jaishankar said when asked to comment on India Today at a conference on the effects that reports could have on India’s image internationally.
“I don’t need a foreign certificate,” the minister added. “It doesn’t come from people who have an agenda to drive.”
He was referring to reports from the US-based Freedom House and Swedish-based research organization Variety of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute.
CONCLUSION…
Leaders must strive to uphold their power.
The restoration of democracy in 1977 only happened because of the democratic values of the people.
The political will of the majority is the only guarantee of the survival of democracy, and it is also a warning to future authorities.
Ronald Reagan once said a great leader is not one who does great things, but one who “makes people do great things”.
Maintaining democracy is such a good thing.
This article has been written by Renitha for The Paradigm.