Editor’s note: As Indian democracy gets back on track, help Scroll ask uncomfortable questions

Until June, the prognostications were dire. India, the global think tanks declared, was in the midst of a process of democratic backsliding. According to the Swedish V-Dem Institute, India was “one of the worst autocratisers”. The US non-profit Freedom House claimed that the country is only “partly free”, while the Economist Intelligence Unit categorised India as a “flawed democracy”.

But as the results of the elections to the 18th Lok Sabha demonstrated, Indians were having none of that. Having experienced the consequences of a single party exercising an overwhelming majority in Parliament for a decade, the country voted to restore the balance – to reinstitute debate, to put a system of checks and balances back into place, to reclaim our democratic traditions.

Among the factors the think tanks consider when they are designing their democracy indexes is the state of media freedom. This year, for instance, India ranks 159 of 180 countries on the scale prepared by Reporters Without Borders – down from 140 in 2014.

India, it’s clear, cannot regain its democratic standing unless the media is allowed to play its expected role – to pose the questions of voiceless citizens to the powerful, without fear of repercussion.

Asking uncomfortable questions is what we at Scroll have been doing...

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