A democracy is inconceivable without freedoms. The precipitous decline of a democracy on a charter of freedom should thus merit serious concern. A new report published by Freedom House, an organization in the United States of America that is committed to upholding the democratic ethos, has revealed that India experienced the steepest decline among 25 large democracies on the freedom index. New Delhi’s achievement has meant that India now finds itself clubbed with such nations as Haiti, Iran, Nigeria, Sudan and others — countries that have distinctly chequered records in maintaining their democratic trajectory. There is a case to argue that democracy is in decline around the world. Curiously, charismatic leaders elected in free and fair elections have been criticized for weakening democracy’s roots. India, one of the brightest beacons of the free world, seems to have regressed too. Its performance on a number of such registers — the world press freedom index is one example — has not been inspiring in recent times. Is that because India, too, has capitulated to the charms of a charismatic, but authoritarian, regime? Illiberal democracy, India has shown, need not be a contradiction in terms.
The Freedom House report is illuminating. For instance, it reveals the hollowness of the claim that elections are a democracy’s Tebbit test. The Narendra Modi government has been legitimately elected twice over, but its record in protecting liberties, Freedom House argues, remains a cause for concern. Three of Mr Modi’s moves have caused India’s slide on the freedom index — the unilateral decision to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir; the implementation of the National Register of Citizens in Assam and the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Parliament. Mr Modi’s government has defended each of them. But the true measure of democracy does not lie in the legitimacy of governments or the scale of their electoral mandate. Democracy is also underpinned by rights and ethics. Mr Modi’s concern for these aspects appears to be rather specious. What else can explain his government’s eagerness to push the CAA, a legislation that is patently discriminatory in spirit? The myopia on Kashmir has been evident in the lockdown of an entire people after stripping them of statehood in one grand, totalitarian sweep. Do democracy’s troubles in India then lie with a democratically elected dispensation?