India has fallen 10 places further down the Democracy Index’s global ranking and currently sits at the 51st spot. The survey determines the trampling of civil liberties in the country as the primary cause for this freefall.
According to the Hindustan Times, the Democratic Index is prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of The Economic Group.
It provides a summary of the state of democracy in 165 independent states and two territories based on ‘electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.’
India’s overall score, on a scale of 0-10, has fallen from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in 2019, with the survey listing India among countries where there were ‘regressions’.
The Democratic Index spoke about the removal of Article 370 in Kashmir and the controversial implementation of the NRC in Assam.
The Indian government stripped the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) state of its special status by repealing two key constitutional provisions granting it powers of autonomy… Following the removal of these provisions of the Constitution and the passage of a new Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019, J&K no longer enjoys statehood and is now divided into two union territories: one that retains the name Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
It further spoke about the deployment of a huge number of military forces in the region and cuting off internet connection there for a prolonged period of time.
Ahead of the move, the government deployed a large number of troops in J&K, imposed various other security measures and placed local leaders under house arrest, including those with pro-India credentials. The government also restricted internet access in the state.
It also severely criticised the NRC in Assam and the plans of conducting such an exercise all over the country.
Critics claim that the exercise targets the Muslim population and will lead to demographic changes along religious lines. There are almost 200m Muslims in India: the figure was 195,810,000 in 2015, representing 14.9% of the total population of India and 10.5% of the total Muslim population of the world… At current growth rates India will be home to the world’s biggest Muslim population by 2060, with a Muslim population of more than 333m or 19.4% of the total population.
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It also pointed out that the CAA had ‘enraged a large Muslim population, stoked communal tensions and generated large protests in major cities.
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