In March last year when the US-based Freedom house and V-Dem Institute based in Sweden reduce Indian democracy, referring to the restrictions on civilian society, minority treatment, and crackdown on free speech, the Ministry of External Affairs to discuss India did not “need sermons”. Slamming a set of what he called “his own appointed guard in the world,” said Minister of External Affairs Jaisankar, “India did not seek their approval, not want to play the game they wanted to play.”
On land, everything is a little different.
The investigation of records accessed by Indian Express uses the right to information law reveals that in a few days, Jaishankar’s service is working: preparing detailed slide shows and list of talks points to show off Indian democracy, “The Indian Way”.
Consider the sequence of events based on official records that include emails obtained under the Right to Information Act:
- March 3, 2021: Freedom House report rates India as “partly free” and pulls down its score to 67 from 71 where it was rated as “free”. It said Indians’ political rights and civil liberties have been eroding since the Narendra Modi government took charge 2014. It flagged “increased pressure on human rights organizations, rising intimidation of academics and journalists, and a spate of bigoted attacks” targeting minorities.
- March 11: V-Dem calls India an “electoral autocracy” citing “restrictions on multiple facets of democracy” such as civil society groups and free speech. V-Dem Institute said India registered a 23 percentage point drop on its 0-to-1 Liberal Democracy Index (LDI) scale, marking “one of the most dramatic shifts among all countries in the world over the past 10 years”.
- March 30: MEA’s Foreign Policy Planning division sends an email to a Joint Secretary in the Lok Sabha Secretariat attaching a power point presentation on “Indian Democracy”. This is copied to seven other MEA officials including Joint Secretary (EAMO – External Affairs Minister’s Office), Joint Secretary (Parliament) and Director (FS – Foreign Secretary’s Office).
- August 5: A second email from MEA to the Lok Sabha Secretariat attaches “speaking notes on – India a democracy” as a document file. Like the March 30 communication, the second email is also copied to five Joint Secretary (JS)-level officers and three Director-level officers.
In response to the request of RTI by Indian Express, MEA shared these emails but did not distribute two attachments which quoted section 8 (c) from the RTI Act, which was related to violations of parliamentary privileges.
Official sources told Indian Express that MEA gave this input to the Secretariat of Lok Sabha for reference by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seem to be the head of another mission of another country.
Significantly, speakers, according to the website of Lok Sabha, “it is seen as a true guardian of the parliamentary democracy tradition,” and his weighing on the subject, said the source, is considered by the government.
Responding to other RTI applications by Indian Express seeking information about the presentation carried out or proposed by the speaker to the head of the mission, Lok Sabha estimates that information quotes section 8 (1) (a) (a) of the RTI Act, which is related to national security. Asked why the MEA had sent this note to the Secretariat of Lok Sabha, considering his independent status, the spokesman refused to comment.
Separately, MEA and the Secretariat of the Sabha also rejected more information about the appeal submitted with RTI’s appeal authority and did not respond to detailed questions about the presentation of democracy, the constitutional propriety sent it to the speaker’s office, and proposed a direction by the speaker for the head of the mission.