How can authoritarian rulers be rolled back? Accurate information for citizens holds the key

Everyday authoritarianism is made up of mundane acts of commission and omission. It manifests itself subtly through everyday practices rather than through dramatic, overt changes. Authoritarians attempt to normalise an environment where routine acts of the government gradually erode our freedom.

These acts include restricting free speech, using the law to restrict funding to civil society organisations and nonprofits, seizing or demolishing private property, curbing access to the internet, restrictions on what citizens can eat or drink and how they have sex.

Increasingly, the march towards authoritarianism has come to include a surfeit of narrative-building – that is, or propaganda – on the futility of democracy. This narrative often aims to undermine institutions of democracy that ensure a functioning system of checks and balances.

Notwithstanding the special discussion in Parliament on the 75 glorious years of the Indian Constitution, it is not uncommon to find members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and their affiliates offer views that aim to destroy vital organs of democracy.

When anyone suggests that “too much democracy” is holding India back, as Amitabh Kant did when he was head of the government’s NITI Aayog think tank, it cannot merely be laughed off – it is essential to identify the deeper narrative that is...

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