Times of India, India
Dec 24 2004

J&K enjoys more freedom than PoK: Survey
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA

WASHINGTON: The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has a greater
degree of freedom than Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the think-tank
Freedom House has said in a survey.

In a significant pronouncement in the Freedom of the World 2005
report, the think tank classifies PoK as “Not Free” compared to J&K’s
“Partly Free” status, thus diminishing military-ruled Pakistan’s
frequent charges of Indian oppression in J&K and calls for
“self-determination” for the state.

In fact, India, with a ranking of 2.5, is only country in South Asia
that is classified as “Free.” Pakistan at 5.5 is deemed “Not Free,”
which would suggest its status is worse than that India’s “Partly
Free” J&K.

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal all rate better than Pakistan with
their “Partly Free” status. The annual ranking is based on political
rights and civil liberties, and Freedom House is evidently not
impressed by Gen Musharraf’s claims of democracy.

In an assessment of what Freedom House considers “disputed
territories,” only northern Turkish Cyprus is rated “Free.” J&K,
along with Nagorno-Karabakh (disputed between Armenia and Azarbaijan)
is rated partly free. PoK, Tibet, Israeli-occupied territories,
Palestinian-occupied territories, Chechnya and Kosovo are considered
“Not Free.”

According to the survey, 89 countries are Free. Their 2.8 billion
inhabitants (44 percent of the world’s population) enjoy a broad
range of rights. Fifty-four countries representing 1.2 billion people
(19 percent) are considered Partly Free. Political rights and civil
liberties are more limited in these countries, in which corruption,
dominant ruling parties, or, in some cases, ethnic or religious
strife are often the norm.

The survey finds that 49 countries are Not Free. The 2.4 billion
inhabitants (37 percent) of these countries, nearly three-fifths of
whom live in China, are denied most basic political rights and civil
liberties. The worst rated countries include close US ally Saudi
Arabia, Turkmenistan, Libya, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, Syria and
Burma.

Most of Western Europe and the United States topped the freedom chart
with a ranking of 1. India with its 2.5 ranking was in the company of
Brazil, Philippines and Thailand, and below Greece, Japan, South
Africa, Taiwan, South Korea and Israel among others.