Freedom House, a US government-funded NGO that studies political freedom around the globe in its annual report, for the second consecutive year, has said that India’s status as a democracy and free society remained “partly free.”
The annual report on global political rights and liberties, which was titled “Freedom in the World 2022 – The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule,” said that India was among the democracies that continue “to decline under the influence of freely elected leaders who have embraced illiberal politics.”
“India, which has suffered a series of setbacks to political rights and civil liberties since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reelection in 2019, showed no signs of reversing course, as notable opposition figures faced arrest and surveillance,” the report said.
Meanwhile, the report said that the status of Kashmir valley was “not free.”
In the 2021 report, Freedom House downgraded India to “partly free”, after listing it as “free” in the reports for 2018, 2019 and 2020. The Indian government rejected the findings and described them as “misleading, incorrect and misplaced”.