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It is time that to debunk several lies about India by the traditional international media spreads. It seems the western media has many uninformed and/or biased reporters who write without verifying facts. Like every other country, India too has treacherous individuals, political parties, and vested interests (including media personalities and some celebrities) who actively collude with India’s enemies and also feed a lot of wrong information about India to the Western world, especially the media. Hollywood movies have also contributed a lot towards building a stereotyped image of India (a poor country of snake charmers). Most Hollywood movies (such as ‘Slumdog Millionaire’) show the poor India with its slums (they are probably not aware of the number of homeless people living on footpaths in Los Angeles or just choose to ignore it) and ignore the developing India.

Here are some of the lies about India:

1) India is the poorest country in the world – Totally wrong! There are approx 63 countries that are poorer than India. After getting independence from the British, India faced grinding poverty because the colonial invaders had plundered and looted India for 200 years. However, India has made significant progress in eliminating poverty, though many challenges still remain in lifting the remaining poor sections from poverty. According to the World Bank, India has halved its poverty since the 1990s—this is commendable because battling poverty in a hugely populated country like India is no mean task. It is worth knowing that India was one of the richest countries in the world till about 500 years ago. It was the Mughal invaders and British colonial rulers who mercilessly plundered and looted India and turned it into a wretchedly poor country. Today, the Indian economy is among the top 5 economies of the world –
Link – Countries by GDP: The Top 25 Economies in the World (investopedia.com)

2) India is the most polluting country in the world – India actually ranks third on this because China and the USA occupy the first two spots respectively.
Link – Each Country’s Share of CO2 Emissions | Union of Concerned Scientists (ucsusa.org)

3) Most corrupt country in the world – Wrong again! According to transparency.org, in 2020, India ranked 86 out of 180 countries in the corruption index with 1 being the least corrupt country which is New Zealand. There are scores of other countries like Turkey, Algeria, Panama, Sri Lanka, Serbia, and many more, that have higher corruption than India. Link – 2020 – CPI – Transparency.org

4) Most dangerous country in the world – According to the Crime Index report for 2021, out of 135 countries, India ranks 67 with the 1st spot occupied by Venezuela as the most crime-infested country in the world. In other words, there are 66 countries where crime is much more prevalent than in India. In my opinion, street crime, like muggings is far more prevalent in the USA and Europe than in India. According to the Global Peace Index, India ranks 141 out of 163 countries. The Global Peace Index does not take crime but measures ongoing domestic and international conflicts and seeks to evaluate the level of harmony or discord within a nation. Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India has contributed a lot to India’s lower rank. Other factors are internal terrorist movements known as the ‘Naxalite movement’ which has the blessings of many perpetually mischief-causing Communists.
Link – Global Peace Index – Wikiwand, Crime Index by Country 2021 (numbeo.com)

5) India bullies other nations – This is not true because India has attacked no country in thousands of years. Since Indian independence, it is Pakistan and China that have attacked India. India has always believed in peaceful negotiations and dialogues. Even during the Corona pandemic, India has donated the Covid vaccines to several countries, and during natural disasters, India has in the past donated food, clothing, and medicines generously to neighboring countries such as Nepal—bullies do not act like this. Despite its tremendous military strength, India has never shown needless aggression towards any of its neighbors unless defending itself.

6) Democracy not effective in India – This is perhaps the biggest lie being floated about India by treacherous elements, foreign-based India-haters, misguided liberals, and biased media. Indian democracy is no doubt messy but is vibrant, colorful, and hugely successful. People in India enjoy a lot of freedom as compared to many other countries. According to the Election Commission of India, there are 2698 political parties in India (8 national parties, 52 state parties, and 2638 unrecognized parties—if this is not democracy then what is? Any expat living in India who has witnessed the Indian elections will wonder in amazement how democratically and efficiently elections are conducted in the second-most populated country in the world. There is a village in India where there is only one registered voter and a booth is set up just to capture this one person’s vote!

If you want to see the real developing India, visit this site (this is NOT an endorsement) http://pixeldo.com/ – this company makes excellent drone videos of Mumbai and other parts of India. Hollywood and International media would do well to see the brighter side of India and not be stuck with the old India.

Read 25 fascinating facts about India

I recommend this book – Breaking India

Photo by samarth shirke on Unsplash