Anatomy of Democratic Unmaking: An Open Letter on India’s Transparency, Human Rights, and Accountability Crises
Anatomy of Democratic Unmaking: An Open Letter on India’s Transparency, Human Rights, and Accountability Crises Posted on 9th December, 2025 (GMT 07:58 hrs) ABSTRACT Submitted by activists, whistleblowers, and citizens associated with Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA), this appeal documents a systematic regression in transparency, accountability, civic space, and human-rights protections in India from 2014 to 2025 under successive BJP-led governments. Key manifestations include: declining global rankings on corruption (CPI 96/180 in 2024), press freedom (151/180 in 2025), and rule-of-law indices; erosion of the RTI Act through 2019 amendments, administrative obstruction, and violence against hundreds of RTI activists; the impending GANHRI downgrade of the NHRC from “A” to “B” due to executive capture and neglect of systemic violations, exemplified by its handling of the opaque DHFL insolvency harming lakhs of small depositors; electoral-finance opacity via Electoral Bonds ...