India
India exhibits mid-range performance across all categories of the Global State of Democracy framework. Over the past decade, it has experienced significant improvements in Basic Welfare, moving up from a borderline score to a solidly mid-range performance. These improvements are likely due to steady gains in infant mortality rates, life expectancy and literacy. Indeed, India has made great strides in development. Between 2011 and 2015 alone, more than 90 million people (approximately seven per cent of the population) were lifted out of extreme poverty. The literacy rate is high (74 per cent), and access to electricity has grown steadily.
Home to the world’s second largest population, India boasts the world’s fifth-largest economy, which is dependent on agriculture, industrial production, IT and business services outsourcing, and retail services, amongst others; the informal sector accounts for more than 80 per cent of non-agricultural employment. Despite its large and highly diversified economy, poverty remains prevalent throughout the country.
At independence and as the result of centuries of openness to communities from other countries, modern-day India is home to a diverse population, including several religious communities and 22 official linguistic groups (though there are many more unofficial languages). Over time, it has endeavoured to balance two dominant, yet competing, visions: a secular and economically liberal identity versus a Hindu nationalist ideology that has had more protectionist tendencies. India's secular identity and reputation for pluralism and multiculturalism has been threatened by the rise of Hindu nationalism in recent years. Since 2016, India has exhibited weak performance in Freedom of Religion. Critics have pointed to a series of laws and policies that they say have particularly targeted Muslims. Hindu nationalist parties have benefitted, however, from a weak opposition whose reputation has been marred by corruption. Moreover, they have enjoyed success based on an expanding middle class and the party’s delivery on social services.
Still, the broader struggle to find a middle ground between these ideologies has come to shape politics and reflects the ethnic, religious and socioeconomic cleavages that 90 years of direct British colonial rule helped establish. The questions of identity left by colonial rule and its use of divide-and-rule, wealth extraction and institutionalized racism and discrimination continue to be debated today.
Over the past five years, significant declines have occurred in Clean Elections and Free Political Parties. These drops may be related to allegations that the ruling party has unfair leeway in campaign practices and a reported rise in the rate at which the Central Bureau of Investigation investigates opposition politicians as compared to ruling party politicians. India has also been recently castigated for restrictions on the freedom of expression, increasingly consolidated and co-opted media ownership, internet shutdowns and the suppression of the freedom of association. The government has said that investigations of the BBC and internet shutdowns were legitimate, meant to investigate possible tax irregularities and ensure public safety, respectively. Despite being one of the first countries in the world to be led by a female prime minister, the country has struggled to address gender inequality, with particular problems regarding violence and discrimination against women. Notably, however, women’s voter turnout often exceeds male turnout and local gender quotas have had success in empowering women.
Looking ahead, it will be important to watch Fundamental Rights, especially as contestation over the identity of India continues. Moreover, the government’s response to criticism, both domestic and international, will be an important marker of how open the environment is to diversity of thought and expression and will impact Checks on Government. Finally, the continuing struggle to address poverty and high economic inequality will impact what has been a positive trajectory for Basic Welfare.
Monthly Event Reports
March 2024 | Controversial Citizenship Amendment Act implemented
On 11 March, the Indian government announced it would soon begin implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, which aims to fast-track citizenship for persecuted religious immigrants, but excludes Muslims. Rights advocates and opposition leaders have criticized the law for religious discrimination, with a spokesperson from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing concern that the law signals a “breach of India’s international human rights obligations.” Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated the opposition is spreading misinformation and politicizing the matter. Shah states that “CAA does not violate Article 14 (right to equality). It’s a law for those who have faced religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.” The law’s implementation comes weeks before a nationwide election and follows another controversial 22 March ruling by a court in one of India’s most populous states (Uttar Pradesh), declaring the Madrasa Act of 2004 unconstitutional and ordering the state government to move students enrolled in the Islamic system to mainstream schools. The Act provides a legal framework for the operation of madrasas [Islam-centred schools] in the state. That ruling will be taken up by the Supreme Court.
February 2024 | Supreme Court strikes down controversial Electoral Bonds Scheme
On 15 February, India’s Supreme Court (SC) struck down a fund-raising mechanism that allowed for individuals and companies to send unlimited anonymous political donations by receiving so-called “electoral bonds” from the State Bank of India (SBI) in exchange for donations to a political party or candidate. Critics of the system had long maintained that it favoured the ruling party by providing it with a significant financial advantage over its rivals, and by enabling SBI, and consequently the government, to track donations that influence political processes. In response to a petition brought by opposition members and a non-governmental organization, the court declared the electoral bonds scheme as “unconstitutional,” violating citizens’ right to government-held information. The decision mandates the SBI to immediately halt the issuance of electoral bonds. Political analysts and the opposition have praised the SC decision as a step towards transparency and strengthening democracy. Meanwhile, the ruling party has emphasized the importance of respecting every SC decision and accused opposition parties of politicising the matter.
January 2024 | Supreme Court overturns early release of 11 men convicted of gang rape
On 8 January, India’s Supreme Court (SC) reversed the Gujarat state government’s decision to release 11 men convicted of gang-raping a pregnant Muslim woman (Bilkis Bano) during the 2002 Hindu-Muslim riots, ordering their return to jail. The decision follows a controversial order by the Gujarat government to set the men free in August 2022, which drew widespread condemnation. The verdict is premised on the ground that the Gujarat government had acted beyond its jurisdiction in granting the assailants early release, emphasizing that only the state government where the crime occurred (Maharashtra state) has the authority to release them. Human rights groups and legal experts have welcomed the SC’s decision to uphold the rule of law and protect women’s rights, although the question remains as to whether the Maharashtra government will later extend the convicts’ relief. There has been no immediate response from the Gujarat government on the matter.
December 2023 | Controversial bills passed amid mass suspension of opposition lawmakers
On 20 December, the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) passed several key bills, including the contentious Telecommunications Bill 2023 and three criminal law bills. The bills were passed after parliament suspended an unprecedented 146 members of opposition parties for allegedly disruptive conduct. The suspended MPs demanded a debate and statement from the government concerning a parliamentary security breach that occurred on 13 December, in which intruders set off smoke canisters in its lower house. The government rejected calls for a debate but ordered a probe into the incident. Rights organizations have criticized the hasty passage of bills without room for proper deliberation. Speaker of the lower house Om Birla argued security is within his purview and he is investigating the matter, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the security breach “very serious” but did not see the need for a parliamentary debate.
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