The writing has been on the wall for quite some time, for all to see except perhaps the acolytes of the NDA government. India's falling governance parameters over the last decade (Press Freedom, Rule of Law, Inequality, Human Rights, Religious Freedom, Environmental Performance, Academic Freedom) all indicate a gradual structural collapse of the institutions of government, and growing contempt for international covenants.

A global pushback was inevitable, and the first sign of it came post-2021, when bodies like V-DEM, EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) and Freedom House downgraded India's democratic status to 'partly free', 'electoral autocracy' and 'flawed democracy'. In 2025, the country's NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) was downgraded to B category by GANHRI (Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions) for its perceived lack of independence and failure to address human rights violations.

The USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom) has demanded of its Congress that India be designated as a country of particular concern and a source of transnational oppression. It has also asked for sanctions to be imposed on the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Assam, the RSS and Bajrang Dal — all for their persecution of minorities. It has demanded investigations against firms whose equipment has been used to target minorities and for opening hearings against online tech platforms for spreading hate and abuse against them.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International wrote to the Indian government accusing it of violating the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Convention, and of being complicit in Israel's genocide in Gaza, by allowing the export of almost 800 shipments of Indian-made weapons, munitions and ordnance to........

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