In 2019, Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and voter turnout was over 67 percent – the highest ever, as well as the highest ever participation by women voters. This makes the country the largest democracy in the world, something which has been the pitch point for marketing India as a nation with vibrant democratic values.
But as India gears up to celebrate its 76th Independence Day, the question that we need to ask ourselves is are we really a vibrant democracy? Is just being able to cast votes makes a successful democracy?
While India is a multiparty democracy, the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presided over discriminatory policies and a rise in persecution affecting the Muslim population.
The constitution guarantees civil liberties including freedom of expression and freedom of religion, but harassment of journalists, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and other government critics has increased significantly under Modi.
The BJP has increasingly used government institutions to target political opponents. Muslims, scheduled castes (Dalits), and scheduled tribes (Adivasis) remain economically and socially marginalised.
For any democracy to flourish, it is essential that the country has a strong and independent press. But in the World Press Freedom Index 2023, India has slipped to 161 rank.
Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which publishes a yearly report on press freedom in countries across the world, had last year ranked India at 150 in a survey of 180 countries. It was 142 in 2021.
This shows that there is a continuous decline in press freedom in the country. The situation has gone from “problematic to very bad” in three other countries: Tajikistan (down 1 at 153rd), India (down 11 at 161st) and Turkey (down 16 at 165th), the RSF report said.
There is a growing intolerance towards journalists and media organisations that are perceived to be anti-establishment as they tend to ask uncomfortable questions to the ruling elite and not about how they eat the mango.
Most of the national media organisations have been acquired largely by two industrial conglomerates, which are totally loyal to the ruling dispensation. Their anchors are used as pawns to spew venom at the Opposition and the minorities.
Just like a free press, strong Opposition also has a major role to play in ensuring that the government stays committed to serving the people. But in the last nine years, there has been a concerted effort from the Centre to destroy both. The situation is scary.
The Central government has been resorting to a political vendetta against the Opposition parties. Investigating agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are being used to harass the Opposition leaders much against the spirit of federalism.
Religious discrimination in India, the world’s largest democracy, has reached a “frightening” level, and some experts warn that the country must change its course or face targeted sanctions from the US government.
“India has done better in the past and has to change course because of the cycle of downward spiral in a country of that importance and the number of people who are involved. It is quite frightening,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF, told his country’s lawmakers weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the White House and addressed a joint session of Congress.
The USCIRF recommended that India, along with Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria and Vietnam, be added to the US government’s list of Countries of Particular Concern, or CPC, because of the worsening limits on religious freedom in these countries.
It also has called for targeted economic and travel sanctions against Indian government agencies and officials that are allegedly involved in violation of religious freedom. This is really shameful.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2022 report revealed that atrocities or crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs) increased by 1.2% in 2021 with Uttar Pradesh reporting the highest number of cases of atrocities against SCs accounting for 25.82% followed by Rajasthan with 14.7% and Madhya Pradesh with 14.1% during 2021.
Further, the report revealed that atrocities against Scheduled Tribes (ST) also increased by 6.4% in 2021 with Madhya Pradesh reporting the highest number of cases accounting for 29.8% followed by Rajasthan with 24% and Odisha with 7.6% in 2021.
Violence against dalit and Adivasi women has also risen. Cases of Rape against SC women, (including minors) account for 7.64% and ST women accounted for 15% out of the total cases reported.
In these circumstances, can we really call ourselves free? The essence of our freedom lay in the foundation of having strong democratic values. But the political leadership in the country since the mid-1970s, have constantly attacked this foundation and weakened it so much that it may fall one day.
If there is anyone who can force a reversal in trend, it is the electorate itself, by getting its priorities right while casting its vote. The people of this country have to choose whether they want to elect extremists or moderates.