"It is one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists", this is the crux of the annual report from the Reporters Without Borders as it has released its report on the level of freedom available to journalists and the country it has highlighted to be one of the most dangerous for journalists is India. The report has precisely put out the fact that India is witnessing its standards towards the freedom of expression are getting eroded and hang in balance. 

Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization based in Paris and it aims to safeguard the right to freedom of information. The global organization would publish the yearly report on the level of freedom available to journalists by analyzing the state of reporters in 180 countries. It has been publishing the annual report since 2002 and it has now released the annual report for 2021. 

The report has shockingly revealed that India is losing its grip on democratic principles and freedom to gain information. The country has been getting dropped from the rank which showcased the menace faced by the journalists by the government-backed outfits. In 2016, it has ranked 133rd place in the list of 180 countries, and in 2021, it has been ranked at 142nd place, trailing nine ranks in five years. 

The report has categorized India as one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their job properly. The annual report, which has drawn significance over the state of preserving and promoting the rights of journalists, said, "In India, journalists who dare to criticize the government are branded as anti-state, anti-national, or even pro-terrorist by the supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party". 

"This exposes them to public condemnation in the form of extremely violent social media hate campaigns that include calls for them to be killed, especially if they are women", the report added. It further said that the journalists are also physically attacked by BJP activists, often with the complicity of the police, and they are subjected to face criminal prosecutions. The report has captured the awful state of the reporters in the country and the risk of executing and discharging their roles and enjoying the freedom of questioning and expression.  

While India has been labeled as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, Norway has been ranked first place for the fifth consecutive year for ensuring the grounds of the highest level of freedom for the journalists. Following Norway, Finland and Sweden were ranked second and third place respectively. It has highlighted that about 73 percent of the total list of 180 countries had partially or completely left the freedom of journalists in the mayhem. 

The report also noted that four journalists were killed in India in connection with their work in 2020. It also said that the rising instances of journalists being charged with sedition, which are punishable by life imprisonment. The country has listed under the countries considered bad for journalism and India has ranked in 142nd place for the second successive year. India shares the "bad" classification with Brazil, Mexico, and Russia. 

Among India's neighbors, Nepal is ranked at 106, Sri Lanka at 127, Myanmar, before the military coup, features at 140. However, Pakistan and Bangladesh had secured 145 and 152 ranks on the index, respectively. Eritrea has been at the bottom of the list, ranked 180 while China, Turkmenistan, and North Korea were ranked 177, 178, and 179 respectively. 

The report further underlined that "Journalists are exposed to every kind of attack, including police violence against reporters, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials." It had dreadfully revealed that "Ever since the general elections in the spring of 2019, won overwhelmingly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, pressure has increased on the media to toe the Hindu Nationalist government's line." 

The report has also curtailed off the fact that the Indian government in 2020 took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to choke press freedom. It also has noted that the situation in Kashmir is still very worrying as journalists had continued to be harassed by police and paramilitary forces. If further accentuated that the coordinated hate campaigns waged on social networks against journalists who dare to speak or write about subjects that annoy Hindutva followers are terrifying and include calls for the journalists concerned to be murdered.