[shipp02]

A pivotal quote in the article:

>How could theocratic states with no separation of religion and government score higher than India? How could a country with universal suffrage and constitutional rights rank below nations that didn’t even hold elections?

Since the article talks quite a bit about Sanjeev Sanyal, I think it might be interesting to point to some of his podcasts.

Like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiW-mH4qIOQ. Here he points out how the media has misrepresented India and exaggerated and sensationalized issues.

Similarly, India has taken criticism from the West over its more ambitious projects like Sardar Vallabhai Patel's statue, and the space program. So taking the West's word with a grain of salt is quite valid.

Further, the article points out that the government is trying to game the ranking while outwardly saying that they don't matter. This seems hypocritical at first glance but it also points out that having lower rankings affects investor confidence and borrowing rates. You can be against a broken system while still trying to appease it because it's not going to change immediately. The Indian Government needs to work within the system until something better can be created.

I am not fully supportive of everything the NDA government has done but I don't think there is another leader in India who can feasibly win an election right now and I refuse to support INC until they get rid of the Gandhi dynasty.

Also, please look at the podcast from this timestamp[2], where he further shows why people in general but Indians specifically should be skeptical of Western narratives. This is also supported by the book Unnatural Selection by Mara Hvistendahl

[2]:https://youtu.be/gNVMvlfMbCU?list=PLgZQtm7d9Z1K9TCynoA3S0QWv...

[ViktorRay]

Sometimes I do find it bizzare when western media praises a theocratic absolute monarchy like Saudi Arabia for “modernizing” (by allowing women to drive and allowing them to not have chaperones) while simultaneously these same media organizations accuse a constitutional liberal democracy like India (which has strict separation of powers and an active independent Supreme Court) of somehow being authoritarian or fascist or some other slur.

[pm90]

The BJP is certainly authoritarian and fascistic, this is not contested. The country itself though probably isn’t. They failed to get an outright majority in the recent elections, and perhaps the main reason they still win is the opposition is completely incapable of reform (like the OP said they keep putting up members of the Gandhi family despite them losing elections repeatedly).

[blackeyeblitzar]

Media sensationalism is everywhere. But I’ve become especially distrustful of these rankings and labels from random think tanks or nonprofits. A good example is the one the other day from “civicus that claimed civic freedoms were disappearing in the US even though no law has changed that would affect civil rights. When you look at their report it basically complains about political decisions rather than civic freedoms. I imagine the bias is 10x worse for India.

[8note]

i wouldnt describe it as rapid, but there certainly are examples of covil rights declines, mostly via court decisions.

eg. overturning roe v wade, and allowing gerrymandering based on race

the most recent wpuld be executive orders stripping visas and greencards based on protected speech