India ’s BBC Ban

Swaminathan S. Anklesaria AiyarThe Indian government has banned a BBC documentary series,India: The Modi Question, blocking it on Youtube and other digital outlets. The official reason —that it “undermines the sovereignty and integrity of India” and could affect public order and India’s relations with foreign countries—is farcical. The real reason is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) inability to swallow criticism of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, whom the documentary accuses of being responsible for the death of over 700 Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat riots when Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat state.The government has long complained that global indices of freedom and democracy devised by various global institutions give India an unwarrantedly low ranking. But after the ban, the rankings will slip further.The2021 Human Freedom Index of the Cato Institute and Fraser Institute ranks India at a lowly 119 out of 165, down from 87 in 2012. The Economist Intelligence Unit ’sDemocracy Index shows India down from 27thposition in 2014 to 53rdposition in 2020. Sweden ’s V‑Dem Institute has ranked India as an “elected autocracy.”On censorship, V ‑Dem said,“India is, in this aspect, now as autocratic as is Pakistan, and worse than both its neighbors Bangladesh and Nepal.” Reasonable critics said at the time that this was gross exaggeration.V ‑Dem can now gleefully say “I told you so.”Unsurprisingly, India ’s opposition parties have casti...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs