On August 15th, 2021, India celebrates its 75th Independence Day. India became independent from the British empire in 1947 and has since then remained the largest democracy in the world. India has achieved much, becoming the third biggest economy in the world when adjusted for purchasing power, inspired the world with its democratic and pluralistic values, and its highly educated diaspora practically helps every country on Earth to populate its scientific, technological, business, and educational sectors. But unfortunately, in recent years India, much in keeping with the global trend, has witnessed a terrible decline in the quality of its democracy and its image has suffered significant damage. Its biggest flaw at this moment in history is its harsh and oppressive treatment of its religious minorities, especially Muslims. Scathing assessments of the deteriorating democracy and human rights situation in India have already been made by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that labeled it as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in 2020 and again in 2021 and by the Swedish research institute, Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) that in its latest democracy report described India as an “electoral autocracy”. The issue has already generated a point of discord between U.S.-India relations during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent visit to India.
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