India ranks abysmally low at 133 among 180 countries in the latest annual World Press Freedom Index.
The report holds that Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems “indifferent” to the threats against journalists.
The 2016 ‘World Press Freedom Index’ released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is led by Finland, which retained its top spot for the sixth consecutive year, followed by Netherlands and Norway.
India jumped three spots from the 136th position it had in 2015.
It is hard to permit journalists to cover regions such as Kashmir that are regarded as sensitive by the government,the report alleged.
Among India’s neighbouring countries, Pakistan ranks 147, Sri Lanka (141), Afghanistan (120), Bangladesh (144), Nepal (105) and Bhutan (94). China is ranked 176.
The United States is ranked 44th and Russia is placed at the 148th place.
The report shows that there has been a deep and disturbing decline in respect for media freedom at both the global and regional levels.
World Press Freedom Index- The Press Freedom Index is a yearly ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders.
- It is based upon the organisation's assessment of the countries' press freedom records in the previous year.
- It intends to reflect the amount of freedom that journalists, news organisations, and netizens have in each country, and the efforts made by authorities to respect this freedom.
- Reporters Without Borders also notes that the index only deals with press freedom.
- It does not measure the quality of journalism or human rights violations in general.
