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With round 968 million folks registered to vote, India’s upcoming basic election (to be held over a number of weeks in April and Might) would be the largest democratic train in human historical past. But hovering over the event are questions on the way forward for Indian democracy itself.
After a decade of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Get together holding energy, the nation’s democratic tradition and establishments have been considerably eroded. BJP rule has featured frequent threats to dissent and a cultural shift away from pluralism. Civil liberties and press freedoms have visibly come beneath pressure, with the occasion repressing and intimidating political opponents, scholar protestors, media organizations, particular person journalists and human-rights organizations.
Amongst different issues, the authorities have focused and arrested journalists and activists on fees of sedition just because they lined farmers’ protests or uncovered abuses of energy. They’ve pressured social-media platforms and mainstream newspapers to take away important content material. They’ve shut down social-media accounts and web entry in areas the place protesters are mobilizing. And so they have arrested opposition leaders and misused anti-terrorism legal guidelines to disclaim critics’ bail.
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