First get the Indian map right: Sitharaman to Freedom House

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 5

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed US-based Freedom House on Friday for downgrading India’s freedom rankings and said the organisation should first get the Indian map right and then comment on something as sensitive as freedom in a multicultural country like India.

“I am concerned about this group which doesn’t get the Indian map correct.  The Indian map on their website is wrong. They should first get our map right,” the finance minister said at an interaction at the Indian Women’s Press Corps.

She said Freedom House calls itself an independent body and yet doesn’t have the wherewithal to understand the sovereign map of India.

“Get the map straight first. How do I take you seriously when you don’t have our map right and comment on matters so intrinsic as freedom in a multicultural country like India where religions have lived forever without cleansing,” she said.

Freedom House this week downgraded India on its freedom rankings from free to partly free.

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