Democratic Backsliding: Has India Lost its way?

Nov 16

Nov 16 Democratic Backsliding: Has India Lost its way?

Recent years have witnessed a global trend in the rise of authoritarianism under populist, right-wing leadership, and India is no exception. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has experienced a decade of democratic backsliding, mirroring global pattens where strongman leaders erode democratic norms. India’s political landscape is being reshaped by laws targeting minorities, increasing censorship and an emboldened Hindu nationalist agenda which casts doubts over the country’s democratic legacy. As watchdogs downgrade India’s democratic status and civil liberties wane, many are left wondering: is the world’s largest democracy losing its way?

A democracy is a system of government defined by the active participation and sovereignty of its people. Its foundation rests on five essential pillars: free and fair elections, genuine political competition, governmental autonomy, civil liberties, and executive checks and balances. Elections must be held periodically, express the will of the people, and be determined by universal suffrage. A democracy must facilitate open competition and political pluralism, allowing opposition parties to organize and compete freely. Additionally, a democracy must have governmental autonomy and freedom from the influence of external forces such as colonial rulers or military elites. Civil liberties such as respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms are essential for enabling citizens to participate openly in society. Finally, a democracy incorporates robust executive checks to hold the leadership accountable. This accountability is twofold: vertical accountability, which involves the ability for opposition forces to provide alternatives to the current government, and horizontal accountability, where independent institutions like legislatures and courts act as checks to prevent the executive from overstepping its authority.

Following India’s independence, its democracy was established by the constitution’s commitment to the values of secularism, pluralism, civil liberties, and democratic governance. However, Modi’s rise to power in 2014 marked a significant shift in Indian politics and an erosion of these principles.

Fueled by public disillusionment with the Congress-led coalition government, Modi’s appeal was rooted in his promise of strong leadership and development. As the then-Chief Minister of Gujarat, Modi presented himself as an efficient governor with a proven record of economic growth, having attracted investment to Gujarat and transformed its economy. Despite controversy over his handling of the 2002 Gujarat riots, Modi had established a reputation as a strong, nationalist leader focused on Hindu pride and development.

Winning 31% of the vote and 282 seats in the 2014 general election, Modi’s Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) secured an outright majority, a feat not achieved by any single party in 40 years. With the BJP’s majority, Modi was able to mainstream majoritarian ideals and push his party’s agenda without the constraints of coalition compromises—a dynamic that reshaped Indian politics by consolidating a Hindu nationalist vision as a dominant political force.

Under Modi, India has faced increasing scrutiny from international organizations that monitor global democratic standards, with various reports signalling a decline in India’s democratic credentials. The U.S.-based non-profit Freedom House, which evaluates political rights and civil liberties in 195 countries, downgraded India from a ‘free’ democracy to a ‘partly free’ democracy, citing the gradual erosion of civil liberties. According to Freedom House’s civil-liberties index, India’s score dropped from 42 out of 60 in 2010 to 33 out of 60 in 2023. The Sweden-based V-Dem Institute also reclassified India from a flawed democracy to an ‘electoral autocracy,’ underscoring the deterioration in democratic norms. Similarly, CIVICUS, an international organization tracking civil liberties across 197 countries, has further downgraded India’s status to ‘repressed’ on its scale, which ranges from ‘open’ to ‘closed.’ Collectively, these rankings reflect a consensus among global monitoring bodies that India’s democracy is under strain, with rising concerns over authoritarian tendencies and restrictions on civil freedoms.

One of the most glaring indicators of democratic backsliding is the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019. This law purportedly aims to fast-track citizenship for persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan but notably excludes Muslims, thereby institutionalizing religious discrimination. BJP representatives argued that Muslims were not a persecuted minority in these countries and therefore do not need to be prioritised. However, Amnesty International and other human rights groups have condemned the law as discriminatory, arguing that it undermines India’s secular foundations and promotes an exclusionary vision of citizenship by setting a dangerous precedent where religious identity impacts an individual's access to rights and protections.

Further threatening democratic values, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was amended in 2019 to allow the government to designate individuals as terrorists without proven links to terrorist organizations. Originally intended as a counter-terrorism measure, the UAPA has been widely criticized for enabling the government to target and silence dissenting voices. Journalists, activists, poets, and union leaders who oppose the Modi administration have been threatened and detained without sufficient evidence under this law, highlighting the state’s growing intolerance for criticism. The amendment has led to the arrest of 1,948 people in 2019, a 37 percent increase from the previous year, undermining freedoms of speech and press, and leading to self-censorship among journalists and citizens. While India’s media technically remains free, widespread harassment of independent journalists and government pressure on media ownership structures have resulted in high levels of self-censorship. This law exemplifies the erosion of checks on executive power, allowing the ruling party to side-line political opposition.

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) of 2020 represents another tool for stifling dissent, particularly among civil society organizations. The FCRA restricts the flow of foreign funding to NGOs, making it increasingly difficult for organizations critical of the government to operate independently. By tightening regulations on foreign fund transfers and permitting the government to suspend NGOs’ operations at its discretion, this law has effectively curtailed the capacity of civil society to hold the government accountable. Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and the Centre for Policy Research are just a few of the organizations that have faced financial audits, raids, or fund freezes under the FCRA. This crackdown on civil society has hindered India’s pluralistic discourse and diminished the role of NGOs.

The Modi administration’s approach to the Kashmir conflict epitomizes its willingness to curtail democratic freedoms and impose direct central control. In August 2019, the government revoked Article 370, which granted the Kashmir region a degree of autonomy, and subsequently divided the state into union territories governed directly by the central government. Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority region, was placed under an extensive lockdown, and thousands of politicians, activists, and civilians were detained. Communications were suspended, protests were banned, and civil liberties were heavily restricted. This crackdown illustrates a clear departure from democratic norms and respect for regional autonomy.

The ruling party has also employed legal tactics to dismiss and silence political opposition. In March 2023, the Indian Parliament expelled Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha party, for comments made in 2019 that were critical of Modi. This expulsion is one of the most visible instances of using defamation law to suppress dissent. Similarly, Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, and vocal critic of Modi, was arrested under bribery charges, highlighting the BJP’s willingness to leverage state mechanisms to neutralize political threats.

Political backsliding is further exemplified by the rise in religious fragmentation, often stoked by BJP rhetoric. In December 2021, BJP affiliates helped organize an event in Uttarakhand where Hindu leaders called for violence against Muslims, after which public lynchings of Muslims have occurred with minimal repercussions. By positioning India as a Hindu homeland, the BJP has abandoned the country’s secular identity, which aimed to protect religious plurality. Hindu nationalist rhetoric, which recalls the bloody 1947 Partition, has fuelled distrust toward Muslims, framing them as disloyal to the nation. This divisive strategy has found resonance among Hindu nationalists who seek to re-establish Hindu dominance and undermine the secular character enshrined in India’s constitution.

Overall, the systematic erosion of checks and balances and the side-lining of constitutional protections have significantly altered the character of Indian democracy, shifting it toward a more authoritarian model that prioritizes majoritarian interests over pluralistic values.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the wider St. Andrews Foreign Affairs Review team.