Following the “downgrade” last year, the MEA sent to the President’s office discussion points on democracy, “the Indian way”
In March last year, when the US-based Freedom House and Sweden-based V-Dem Institute downgraded Indian democracy and called for its restrictions on civil society, the treatment of minorities and crackdowns on freedom of expression, the Foreign Ministry retaliated, saying India did. do not “need sermons”. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, who struck a set of what he called “self-proclaimed guardians of the world”, said: “India is not seeking their approval, is not willing to play the game they want to play.”
On the ground it was a little different.
An examination of registers accessed by Indian Express using the law on the right to information revealed that Jaishankar’s ministry was at work within a few days: preparing a detailed slide show and a list of discussion points to showcase Indian democracy, “the Indian way”.
And in a move that raises questions about constitutional decency, it also sent them to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, which is an independent office operating under the advice of Lok Sabha’s president.
Consider the course of events based on official records that include emails received under the Right to Information Act:
- March 3, 2021: The Freedom House report classifies India as “partially free” and lowers its score to 67 from 71 where it was classified as “free”. It said Native American political rights and civil liberties had eroded since Narendra Modi’s government took the lead in 2014. It flagged “increased pressure on human rights organizations, increasing intimidation of academics and journalists, and a stream of narrow-minded attacks” on minorities.
- 11th of March: The V-Dem calls India an “electoral autocracy”, referring to “restrictions on many aspects of democracy” such as civil society groups and freedom of expression. The V-Dem Institute said India recorded a 23 percentage point decrease on its 0-to-1 Liberal Democracy Index (LDI) scale, marking “one of the most dramatic changes among any country in the world in the last 10 years”.
- March 30: The MEA’s Foreign Policy Planning Department sends an e-mail to a joint secretary of the Lok Sabha Secretariat and attaches a power point presentation on “Indian Democracy”. This has been copied to seven other MEA officials, including the Joint Secretary (EAMO – External Affairs Minister’s Office), the Joint Secretary (Parliament) and the Director (FS – Foreign Secretary’s Office).
- 5 August: A second email from the MEA to the Lok Sabha Secretariat attaches “speech notes on – India a democracy” as a document file. Like the March 30 announcement, the second email is copied to five Joint Secretary (JS) officials and three directors.
In its response to RTI’s request from The Indian Express, the MEA shared these emails but did not share the two annexes referring to Section 8 (c) of the RTI Act, which deals with infringements of Parliament’s privileges.
Official sources told The Indian Express that the MEA provided this information to the Lok Sabha Secretariat for reference by the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, apparently to inform Heads of Mission in other countries.
Significantly, according to Lok Sabha’s website, the president “seas as the true guardian of the traditions of parliamentary democracy”, and his weighting on the subject, said sources, was considered by the government.
In response to another RTI application by The Indian Express seeking information on the presentations made or proposed by the President to Chiefs of Mission, the Lok Sabha Secretariat refused information on the basis of Section 8 (1) (a) of the RTI Act, which refers to national security. Asked why the MEA had sent these notes to the Lok Sabha Secretariat given its independent status, the spokesman declined to comment.
Separately, the MEA and Lok Sabha Secretariat also refused further information on appeals to the RTI Appellate Authority and did not answer detailed questions about the presentations on democracy, the constitutional suitability to send it to the President’s Office and proposed information meetings from Speakers to the Heads of Mission.