Misleading, Incorrect, Misplaced': Govt Slams US NGO Report Claiming India is Only 'Partly Free' Now After a US-gove...

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Misleading, Incorrect, Misplaced': Govt Slams US NGO Report Claiming India is Only 'Partly Free' Now

After a US-government funded NGO said in a report that civil liberties in India had been on a decline since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power, the government responded saying the findings were “misleading, incorrect and misplaced”.

In its report titled ‘Democracy under Seige’, the US-based Freedom House – that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights – changed India’s status as a free country to ‘partly free’. The report said the change in India’s status is part of a global shift in the balance between democracy and authoritarianism.

However, the government in a press release on Friday denied the report’s findings saying it was evident from the fact that many states in India under its federal structure were ruled by parties other than the one at the national level, through an election process “free and fair and which is conducted by an independent election body.” According to the Centre, this reflected the working of a “vibrant democracy”, which gave space to those who held varying views.

Freedom House put attention to the Northeast Delhi riots, increase in use of sedition laws against the government’s critics, internet shutdowns and the migrant crisis post the nation-wide lockdown announcement in its report.