The Freedom in the World report released today and is supposed to be Freedom House’s flagship annual report, assessing the condition of political rights and civil liberties around the world. It is composed of numerical ratings and supporting descriptive texts for 195 countries and 15 territories. It grandly declares in conclusion ‘Democracy today is beleaguered but not defeated. Its enduring popularity in a more hostile world and its perseverance after a devastating year are signals of resilience that bode well for the future of freedom.’ It downgrades India from 71 to 67 points – from Free to Partly Free.
What appears most beleaguered though is their assessment of the freedom of the Indian democracy, framed with an obviously inimical and motivated approach. With a picture of anti- CAA protest prominently displayed, this rant dressed up as a report and its judgemental tone are so familiar, it might as well have been a piece in any of Print, Quint, Scroll, Wire or what-have-you. Gem after gem of opinionated non-sense and often outright lies tumbles out of this loftily titled ‘World Freedom’ report. The report grants scores on the basis of certain question it asks and its own ‘experts’ answer.
The report does not even make an attempt at a semblance of neutrality. For India, it constantly constructs the Hindu-Muslim conflict using the word Muslim 24 times and Hindu 13 times. It portrays Muslims only as victims using terms such as – killed, scapegoated, marginalised, threatened, disenfranchised, speciously blamed, attacked, victims of communal violence, charged with sedition, indiscriminately attacked, singled out for abuse and so on.
But on the other hand, per the report, the Hindu nationalist government has presided over rising violence, routinely enacts discriminatory policies, promotes anti-Muslim views, Hindu students wing of RSS have engaged in violence on campuses across the country, traditional Hindu practices feature gender discrimination, Hindu nationalist campaigns have exacerbated self-censorship. Absent the evidences on the basis of which they make such sweeping statements this is nothing but prejudiced vitriolic.
On one question of ‘Are individuals free to practice and express their religious faith or non-belief in public and private’, the report-writers hand down a judgement of what is legal and illegal – “In September, 32 individuals charged with orchestrating the illegal 1992 demolition of a prominent mosque in the state of Uttar Pradesh were acquitted by a special court, despite substantial evidence of their culpability. Among those exonerated were several high-profile members of the BJP. Modi had laid the foundation stone for a new Hindu temple on the site a month earlier, after a long-awaited 2019 Supreme Court judgment had permitted the construction of a temple there. The mosque had stood on the site for centuries prior to its unlawful destruction.”
So irrespective of what Indian Courts adjudicate, including the highest court of the country, this NGO sitting in Washington, arrogating to itself the responsibility of ranking levels of ‘freedom’ in the entire world, decide what is legal or illegal in India.
In another question on which it ranks countries- Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations, particularly those that are engaged in human rights– and governance-related work?’, it downgrades India on account of restrictions on foreign funding. Its obsession with foreign funding for NGOs is obvious – ‘The score declined from 3 to 2 because the government enacted legislation to tighten restrictions on foreign funding for NGOs and separately froze the assets of Amnesty International, forcing it to shutter its operations in the country’.
The MHA, in a rare public statement carried by all major newspapers, had stated that Amnesty has been denied permission to receive foreign funding under the FCRA since 2000 by all governments in India. In direct subversion, its UK office illegally sent funds to four entities in India under the guise of Foreign Direct Investment. So for following its own laws and restricting an offender, India goes from free to partly free!
If this sham of a report is to be believed, Hindus are violent aggressors and Muslims are suffering untold oppression. The report does not bother to give any evidences to support the sweeping value-judgements it makes. If the creator of this fanciful biased lies- Freedom House, is mostly funded by the US government, it may be well worth taking it up at the level of government and demand strict oversight over such bigoted, misleading publications masquerading as reports on the status of democratic freedom in the world.
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