EIU Democracy Index 2017: India Slips From 32nd to 42nd Rank, Pakistan at 110th Position as Asia Becomes 'Less Democratic'
In the entire Asia-Pacific region, only Australia and New Zealand have been classified as "full democracies".
New Delhi, Jan 31: The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index report for the year 2017 raises caution over the state of polity in Asia-Pacific region. The report, while severely degrading the ranks of Indonesia and India, claims that democracy at large is 'flawed' in the entire Asian continent.
India, one of the largest multi-party parliamentary democracy in the region, has slipped by 10 positions in the EIU Democracy Index report. In 2016, the country was ranked at 32nd position (out of 167 nations). In 2017, however, it was downgraded to the 42nd spot.
India's next next-door neighbours on east and west -- Bangladesh and Pakistan -- are placed on the 92nd and 110th position respectively.
Citing reasons for degrading India, the EIU report states: "The strengthening of right-wing Hindu forces in an otherwise secular country led to a rise of vigilantism and violence against minority communities as well as other dissenting voices."
China, the largest economic and military force in the Asia-Pacific region, has been described as the "black hole" for independent journalism and news-emanation.
Apart from India, another constitutional democracy which faced a downward surge in their ranking is Indonesia, which slipped from the 48th to the 68th spot.
The report blames the rise of conservative forces for the adverse ranking of Indonesia. "Indonesia's stringent blasphemy law has often been used to limit freedom of expression," it adds.
In the entire Asia-Pacific region, only Australia and New Zealand have been classified as "full democracies". whereas, all other nations, including India, have been placed under the "flawed democracy" category.
Meanwhile, the top positions continue to remain occupied by the scandinavian countries, who enjoy the "best standard of democracy". The first five ranked nations are: Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland. The United States of America is placed at the 21st spot, whereas, the United Kingdom remains at 14th.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 31, 2018 04:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).