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Forever Striving ... Reaching ... Clawing ... To Scrape The Bottom:
Press Freedom in India Plummets
GIRISH K.N. YADAV
DELHI FOLLIES
POSTCARD # 4 FROM THE BIZARRES OF INDIA
It’s not merely one of the main pillars of the structure: it is actually one of its load-bearing walls. If you pull it down, the whole edifice collapses.
It’s the seminal relationship between Press Freedom and Democracy.
It’s not just one of the many indicia of democracy, allowing you to pick and choose your best five favourite traits out of nine, and observing the convenient ones and throwing away the rest.
You can’t do that because it’s one of those key elements without which it can no longer be called a Democracy. Just like, if you take away one of the four wheels, it is no longer a motor car. It may function as a three-wheel auto-rickshaw or a two-wheel scooter, but it won’t be a car anymore.
So is it with our India. It grows ever more incredible by the day, if I may borrow a phrase from our multi-million dollar self-promotion around the unwitting world.
The World Press Freedom Index for the year 2013 reported yesterday that India has dropped another nine places in the last 12 months and now holds the rank of 140th in the list of 179 countries in the world.
The report underlines the fact that the world’s so-called “biggest democracy” now occupies its lowest position in world press freedom ranking since 2002.
“In Asia, India (140th, -9) is at its lowest since 2002 because of increasing impunity for violence against journalists and because Internet censorship continues to grow,” Reporters Without Borders said in its World Press Freedom Index For The Year 2013.
Hamara India, which still shamelessly boasts the moniker of ’democracy’, now ranks behind many of the world’s dictatorships and oppressive regimes.
Though Canada has not fared well this year either -- it has fallen ten places from its ranking in 2012 -- that is no consolation to India: Canada still ranks 20th out of 179 nations.
India is 140th out of 179 nations.
Nothing worth writing home about: it puts it in the bottom 20% in the world. And steadily moving towards rock-bottom. Fast.
The United States?
It was 47th last year. It has now jumped 15 rungs to 32nd.
India can’t blame this latest misery on the decadent West. Or on either Pakistan or China, both of which give it good company at the bottom of the list of ignominy.
If this doesn’t give us automatic rights to the term “Incredible India!” what else could?
February 1, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Kanwarjeet Singh (USA), February 01, 2013, 12:42 PM.
Oh, so now that it is impacting the majority, we are supposed to feel sorry for your, Mr. Yadav? Now you know what the Sikhs have faced for decades. This was eventually going to happen and the majority is to blame for it. By being mute spectators, you supported the government censorship against us Sikhs; time for us to sit back and watch you prey on each other.