“Elections in authoritarian countries were manipulated to prevent genuine opposition candidates from participating,” it added.According to Freedom House, the return of elections to Jammu and Kashmir- which the NGO assesses separately from India, resulted in a change of status for the region from ‘Not Free’ to ‘Partly Free’.”The long-delayed elections did not fully undo the damage to rights caused by the Indian government’s 2019 reorganization of the territory and revocation of its special autonomous status, but they did restore some political representation for the local population, which had been under direct federal rule for over five years,” the report noted.The report, however, noted that despite the overall global decline in freedom across the globe, bright spots emerged in several regions as a result of competitive elections or following the collapse of long-standing authoritarian regimes. “New governments will now face the difficult task of building and strengthening democratic institutions while also protecting individual rights,” it said.Emphasising that an independent judiciary is a fundamental feature of democracy, the report noted that across the world, elected leaders have increasingly used three key tactics to weaken judicial independence: taking control of how judges are disciplined, changing the remit of judicial oversight, and controlling court appointments.”In India, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has similarly sought to gain more influence over judicial appointments. In 2014, it tried to replace the Collegium system, whereby new judges are nominated by their colleagues, with a new commission that would include members of the government in addition to sitting judges,” the report noted.”The Supreme Court struck down the law in 2015, but since then the Modi government has delayed appointments and rejected nominations made by the Collegium without explanation. Judicial vacancies have increased as a result, contributing to a backlog of cases at every level of the court system. The 34-seat Supreme Court, which hears cases in small panels, now has seven vacancies and over 70,000 pending cases,” it added.The report pointed out that though the judiciary in India have continued to push back against government overreach, it remains vulnerable, causing political rights and civil liberties to have deteriorated substantially in the last ten years.Stressing that global freedom across the world faced serious challenges in 2025, including democratically elected leaders seeking to advance their goals by overriding institutional checks on their power, Freedom House called on those “who believe in democracy to invest in democratic institutions at home, call out attacks on rights abroad, work together to promote lasting peace, and support human rights defenders wherever they operate.””Only sustained and coordinated action can reverse the nearly two decades of decline in global freedom and ensure that more countries enjoy security, prosperity, and all the other benefits of democratic rule,” the report said.
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