India's Vanishing Freedoms: Are We Listening to the Alarm Bells?

Forget the glossy brochures and the endless talk of a ‘New India’ shining on the world stage for a moment. If you peel back that veneer, what international watchdogs are telling us, with cold, hard numbers, should send a chill down our spines. While the economy might be a story they want to sell, there’s another, darker narrative unfolding: India’s alarming slide in the global rankings when it comes to the basic stuff – a free press, a healthy democracy, and plain old human rights. There’s a chasm opening up between what the government says India is, and what it feels like for many who live there.

Just look at press freedom. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in their 2024 World Press Freedom Index slapped India with a shocking 159th place out of 180 countries. Think about that. That isn’t just a bad score; it’s a nightmare for journalists trying to do their jobs. We hear it constantly from brave reporters on the ground – the pressure, the threats, the feeling of looking over your shoulder. And what’s the official line? “National security.” But that excuse wears incredibly thin when you see sedition laws or the tough UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) being thrown at journalists who dare to dig too deep or ask too many awkward questions. When The Hoot can list dozens of attacks on journalists and media outfits in just one year, you know this isn’t about rogue incidents; it’s the climate they’re forced to work in.

And what about the state of democracy itself? The V-Dem Institute, a respected voice, didn’t mince words in its 2024 report: it now calls India an “electoral autocracy.” Just a few years ago, it was still an “electoral democracy.” That’s a fall, and a hard one. Their numbers show that core democratic pillars, like being able to speak your mind freely or get information from different sources, are weaker. Sure, people still vote, and Parliament still meets. But what does it mean when, like in December 2023, over 140 opposition MPs are just kicked out of Parliament while crucial laws are being discussed? That’s not how a healthy democracy breathes; that’s how it suffocates.

Then there’s the daily reality of human rights. Groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch keep sounding the alarm. Think about NGOs – the kind that fight for people’s rights – being hamstrung or shut down because of laws like the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act). Reports say nearly 6,000 lost their licenses or couldn’t renew them over just a few years. Imagine your town suddenly cut off from the world because the internet is switched off – India is a world leader in doing just that, often for days or weeks, as Access Now tells us. Just imagine for a moment what life is like in places like Kashmir or Manipur, where this isn’t just news, it’s their daily, grinding reality. Then you hear these international groups – you know, bodies like the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the USCIRF – year after year, sounding the alarm about what’s happening to minorities. They talk about genuine fears for the safety and rights of Muslims and Christians. It really makes you stop and wonder: in a climate like that, who truly feels safe, who feels like they genuinely belong?

India is, without a doubt, a vibrant country with incredible energy. But as these disturbing numbers and real-life stories pile up, the question isn’t whether people are criticizing India from the outside. The real gut-check question is: is anyone in power in India genuinely listening? Are they looking at these crashing scores and feeling a sense of urgency to fix what’s broken? Or is it all just dismissed as “fake news” or some foreign plot, met with more bravado instead of honest reflection?

The brutal, undeniable truth is spelled out in these numbers – they don’t just ‘not mince words,’ they scream a damning indictment. These aren’t just ‘alarm bells’ anymore; they’re the piercing sirens signaling a democracy in critical distress, deliberately steered onto a path of self-destruction. What we’re witnessing is the systematic dismantling of India’s foundational democratic pillars, a callous disregard for the basic rights its people once took for granted. To pretend this is anything but a willful dereliction by those in power, a conscious choice to ignore the inferno, is to be blind. The time for ‘listening and acting’ is fast becoming a relic of a more hopeful past; what’s unfolding now demands a far more urgent and global condemnation if anything is to be salvaged from this rapidly accelerating descent.