Freedom House, a US government-funded NGO, in its annual ‘Freedom in the World’ report has demoted India from being “Free” in 2020 to “Partly Free” in 2021. The country’s score has fallen from last year’s 71 to 67 out of 100 this year, calculated on the basis of the state of its political rights and civil liberties.

Explaining the status change, the organisation says, “India’s status declined from Free to Partly Free due to a multiyear pattern in which the government and its allies presided over rising violence and discriminatory policies affecting the Muslim population and pursued a crackdown on expressions of dissent by the media, academics, civil society groups, and protesters.”

© Freedom House

“Rather than serving as a champion of democratic practice and a counterweight to authoritarian influence from countries such as China, Modi and his party are tragically driving India itself toward authoritarianism,” says the report.

And according to the report, it’s not just India’s freedom that is in question. “With India’s decline to Partly Free, less than 20 percent of the world’s population now lives in a Free country, the smallest proportion since 1995.”

© Freedom House

Besides India, Peru was also declared “Partly Free” this year. Thailand, Peru, and Kyrgyzstan were among the countries that declined from “Partly Free” to “Not Free” while Seychelles was declared “Free” as an improvement from its previous “Partly Free” status.

The public seems to be of two minds on this news though. Some seem to be calling into questioning the organisation’s authority.

I just upgraded Freedom House from "irrelevant" to "totally irrelevant"@dhume pic.twitter.com/ybRsoDOBbz

— ϽΓΣⱤẛ∁ (@CholericCleric) March 4, 2021

Even funnier... #FreedomHouse opinions are based on a grand total of "40 advisers" and, wait for it... journalists, academicians & NGOs .
No wonder India seems so terrible! pic.twitter.com/7rtQ6YWj4f

— Anuraag Saxena (@anuraag_saxena) March 3, 2021

Freedom Housed had received funding for clandestine activities inside Iran in the past. It also lists Indian and Pakistani Kashmir as separate entities and ranks. FWIW, it also gives Canada a score of 98. pic.twitter.com/nFEQ450M4p

— Avatans Kumar (@avatans) March 4, 2021

On the separate assessment of ‘Indian Kashmir’, the organisation says, “Disputed territories are sometimes assessed separately if they meet certain criteria, including boundaries that are sufficiently stable to allow year-on-year comparisons.”

Others are concerned over the contents of the report and what it might mean for the state of Indian democracy.

Two disturbing news items in today’s newspapers. Freedom House has downgraded India’s ranking from being a free country to being only ‘partly free’. And, 70% of governmental shutdowns of the Internet were in India.

— Tavleen Singh (@tavleen_singh) March 4, 2021

Our freedom fighters fought the British and laid down their lives for a free India, for it to now being taken away, bit by bit, every passing day, is a sad reminder of where we stand today.
The new normal.
Image courtesy: Freedom House Report 2021 pic.twitter.com/zc3BqIoEgQ

— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) March 4, 2021

India's status has been downgraded from 'Free' to 'Partly Free'. Though we are not as low as our neighbours... But a lot of work needs to be done to reach to "free" again. #FreedomHouse #globalfreedomscore #67

— Chirag Juneja (@chiragjuneja) March 4, 2021

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