Under PM Modi, India Losing Its Status of Democracy: Global Report
India has continued on a path of steep decline, to the extent that it has almost lost its status as a democracy. The dive in press freedom, attacks on the opposition, and increasing repression of civil society associated with the current Hindu-nationalist regime of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi are among the factors that India is on the verge of losing its status as a democracy.
These are among the findings of a new research report “Autocratization Surges–Resistance Grows Democracy Report 2020” released by the V-Dem Institute in Sweden.
The global report reveals that autocratization is affecting Brazil, India, the United States of America, and Turkey, which are major economies with sizable populations, exercising substantial global military, economic, and political influence.
The report says that India is on the verge of losing its status as a democracy due to the severely shrinking of space for the media, civil society, and the opposition under Modi’s government.
Now India is placed among the 10 autocratizing countries, including Brazil, Poland, Ukraine, the United States of America, and Turkey, amongst others. While 8 of these countries were still democratic – and three of them were even liberal democratic – in 2009, the majority of them are now autocratic.
The V-Dem Institute is an independent research institute. The Headquarters of the project is based at the Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
