Nirmala dismisses report on human rights in India

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lashed out at the U.S. think tank Freedom House — which has downgraded India’s status from “free” to “partly free” — accusing the body of not even getting the “Indian map” correct. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on behalf of the government also issued a statement calling the report “misleading, incorrect and misplaced”. Speaking to reporters at an interaction in Indian Women’s Press Corps on Friday, Ms. Sitharaman said, “I am concerned about a group which does not get the Indian map correct. And this body as per its website says it is an independent body. It doesn't have the wherewithal to understand what is the sovereign territorial map of India and in a country as diverse as India they have gone into freedom of religion and everything,” she said.