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India is a well-institutionalized liberal democracy with a fiercely independent court system and long-standing rule of law. Yet Reporters Without Borders ranks India below Hong Kong on its Press Freedom Index, and the Pew Research Center ranks India the literal worst country in the world on its Social Hostility Index of religious repression.
Whatever anyone may think of the state of personal freedom in India, such extreme rankings are obviously in error. We will produce annual summaries of the international reports on personal freedom in India, with a particular focus on RSF, Pew, and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), describing the methods they use and highlighting the biases that have led them to such extreme conclusions regarding India.
“India is the world’s biggest democratic success story. It is the only post-colonial well-institutional democracy,” sociologist A/Prof Salvatore Babones said at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai on Saturday.
A/Prof Salvatore Babones also talked about press freedom in India and said it is safer to be a journalist in India than in the rest of the world.
