A report by ‘Freedom House’ claiming India’s status as a free country has declined to “partly free” is “misleading, incorrect and misplaced”, the government said on Friday in a sharp rebuttal to the assessment of the US-based watchdog.
That the ranking was faulty was evident from the fact that “many states in India are ruled by parties other than the one at the national level, through an election process which is free and fair and which is conducted by an independent election body,” said the government in a point-by-point rejoinder.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “Political judgement of Freedom House are as inaccurate and distorted as their maps, example on the covid situation there is widespread appreciation of the response of our recovery rate and low fatality rate.” Freedom House, which is also funded by the US government, also drew criticism for showing a distorted India map on the cover of its report.
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 nationwide lockdown announcement in its report.
Responding to these findings, the government said, “Government of India treats all its citizens with equality as enshrined under the Constitution of the country and all laws are applied without discrimination. Due process of law is followed in matters relating to law and order, irrespective of the identity of the alleged instigator.”
“With specific reference to the Northeast Delhi riots in January 2019, the law enforcement machinery acted swiftly in an impartial and fair manner. Proportionate and appropriate actions were taken to control the situation. Necessary legal and preventive actions were taken by the law enforcement machinery on all complaints/calls received, as per law and procedures,” the government said.
The government also rebutted the allegation in the report that the Covid-19-induced lockdown “left millions of migrant workers in cities without work or basic resources” and “resulted in the dangerous and unplanned displacement of millions of internal migrant workers”.
The government said that the lockdown was announced to control the spread of Covid-19 and the period allowed the government to ramp up production capacity of masks, ventilators, personal protection equipment (PPE) kits, etc, and thereby effectively prevent the spread of the pandemic. India has, on per capita basis, registered one of the lowest rates of active Covid-19 cases and pandemic-related deaths globally, the statement added.