2023 IAIE/Bravus Eminent Person’s Oration intrigues the Indian diaspora

Brisbane, 20 March (India News Bureau): The Institute for Australia Indian Engagement in partnership with Bravus Mining and supported by Nice Loans and India News hosted the 2023 Eminent Persons Oration in Brisbane on 20 March at the SunPac Theatre. The oration was delivered by Professor Salvatore Babones, Associate Professor, the University of Sydney and CEO, Indian Century Roundtable in Sydney on The Numbers Game. How International Rankings Demonise India.

Guests including community leaders, members, business professionals, youth and entrepreneurs relished the captivating oration endowed with facts and evidence exposing shenanigans of international institutions and Indian academics maligning India. The audience was flabbergasted to know how international institutions demonise India by fudging data and manipulating the ranking methodology to give India a low ranking. Institutions including the Federation of Indian Communities of Queensland (FICQ), Hindu Swayamsewak

Sangh, Bharatiya Samaj, Gandhi Salt March limited, Baps Swaminarayan, Queensland Arya Samaj Association, Hindu Mandir, Australian Hindu Association, Australia India Business Council, and Global Organisation of the People of Indian Origin among others were represented.

In his oration, Prof. Babones observed that the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) had published that the Indian democracy has been in decline ever since Narendra Modi took office in 2014, labelling India as a “flawed democracy”. He shared that the Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-DEM) ranked India even lower, at 101st in the world for electoral democracy (only two places above Myanmar!) and 97th overall in the world for liberal democracy (one place above Papua New Guinea!). He highlighted that V-DEM claimed that India is no longer a liberal democracy at all, and become an “electoral autocracy” on a par with Russia. Another institution that professor Babones analysed was the American governmentfunded Freedom House, which described India to be only “partially free”, with an overall freedom ranking of 85th in the world. He shared that Freedom House lists the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir as “unfree”. Challenging the flawed methodology of these rankings— which are rather than being questioned are being sweepingly cited by many Indian academics and international media to target India, BJP and Narendra Modi— Professor Babones asserted that if Narendra Modi and the BJP are the barbarians of the Indian democracy, assaulting liberal institutions from within and turning India into a Russianstyle “electoral autocracy”, Western governments certainly should become more wary of cooperating with India, which is not the case. He added, if it were the academics, intellectuals, and think-tankers themselves the barbarians at the gate of Indian democracy, maligning a poor but proud country in a bid to impose their own parochial political positions, then a moral reckoning is in order. Generally, non-Indians, parliamentarians, business leaders with little understanding of Indian affairs, lacking any capability to evaluate India’s credentials, inevitably turn to these rankings. Prof. Babones cautioned that it is breach of trust on part of these institutions and questioning their entire model of practice.

Prof. Babones asserted that these institutions are guilty of cherry-picking and presenting alarming and sensationalist appraisals of the state of Indian democracy. Guests were appalled to know that India ranked poorly than Hong Kong and Iran in freedom rankings and electoral democracy! Howzat!?

Dr Ashutosh Misra, CEO of IAIE welcomed the guests, while Mr. Samir Vora, Executive Director, Bravus Mining delivered the vote of thanks. Acknowledgment to Country was delivered by Uncle Adrian Coolwell and Mr. Suman Nepal, Director, Nice Loans felicitated Prof Babones. The event was moderated by emcee Mr. Kartik Pratap Singh, Institute Secretary, IAIE.

Prof. Babones was also felicitated with the India Champion Award for his fact/evidencebased research work and public lectures on India over the years and dispelling much of the misperceptions and propaganda being peddled against India.