60% Indians favour strong leader who can break rules, anti-terror ops over protecting civil rights: UK survey

By Rajiv Shah
A high-profile online survey in 23 countries, including India, claims that 63% Indians, one of the highest among the countries surveyed, insist on the need to to prioritise stopping terrorism over protecting civil rights. While the average for the 23 countries is 45%, interviewees from only two countries feel so more strongly about this – Serbia 73% and Turkey 69%.
The countries selected for the survey, carried out by Ipsos-MORI, the second largest market research organisation in the United Kingdom, are – Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.
The countries which refuse to give much priority to terrorism over protecting civil rights include – US 37%, Brazil 37%, Italy 35%, Mexico 34%, Canada 31%, Spain 31%, Argentina 30%, and Japan 25%.
In all, 16,597 adults aged 16-64 across the 23 countries were interviewed between October 21 and November 4, 2016. Between 500 and 1000+ individuals participated on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel.
In a related response to the statement, “To fix the country, we need a strong leader willing to break the rules”, 65% Indians answered in the positive, which is higher than all but six countries – France, Israel, Italy, South Korea, and Turkey (80%, 69%, 68%, 66%, 66%, and 65% respectively).

While the world average is 49%, the interviewees of the countries which feel the least for such a need are Japan, Argentina, Spain, Sweden, and Germany (39%, 36%, 35%, 23%, and 21% respectively).
Despite the need for a strong leader willing to break rules, India has the least percentage of people interviewed among 23 countries who believe that society is “broken” – just 32%. Just one country, Japan, has a higher percentage than India on this score (31%).
While the average of 23 countries is 58%, the people of the countries where people strongly feel their society is broken are Poland 79%, Spain 78%, Brazil 77%, Mexico 76%, and South Africa 74%.
Providing answers to seven different queries on what people think about seven different issues, the survey, whose results were released on January 31, 2017, found that 56% of Indians support prioritising jobs for national citizens, as against the world average of 43%, again one of the highest among the 23 countries surveyed.
To the question, “To what extent, if at all, do you agree or disagree with the following statements – Your country is on decline?”, least percentage of people surveyed from India, 22%, answered in the positive, as against the average of 57% among 23 countries.
The countries where the highest percentage of people thought their nation is on decline are South Africa, South Korea, Italy and Brazil, with 77%, 73%, 73% and 72% respectively.
In yet another question, whether they felt that they have the least confidence in government, just 35%, lowest among 23 countries, agreed. While the average is found to be 71%, the countries where the confidence level in their governments is worst are Mexico, Spain, South Korea, Poland and Hungary (90%, 89%, 84%, 82% and 82% on an average).
---
Download survey results HERE

Comments

Overriding India's constitutional sovereignty? Citizens urge PM to reject WHO IHR amendments

By A Representative A group of concerned Indian citizens, including medical professionals and activists, has sent an urgent appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to reject proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) before the ratification deadline of July 19, 2025.

Designing the edge, erasing the river: Sabarmati Riverfront and the dissonance between ecology and planning

By Mansee Bal Bhargava, Parth Patel Across India, old black-and-white images of the Sabarmati River are often juxtaposed with vibrant photos of the modern Sabarmati Riverfront. This visual contrast is frequently showcased as a model of development, with the Sabarmati Riverfront serving as a blueprint for over a hundred proposed riverfront projects nationwide. These images are used to forge an implicit public consensus on a singular idea of development—shifting from a messy, evolving relationship between land and water to a rigid, one-time design intervention. The notion of regulating the unregulated has been deeply embedded into public consciousness—especially among city makers, planners, and designers. Urban rivers across India are undergoing a dramatic transformation, not only in terms of their land-water composition but in the very way we understand and define them. Here, we focus on one critical aspect of that transformation: the river’s edge.

FSSAI defies Supreme Court order on food warning labels, citing 'trade secrets' for withholding vital information

By A Representative India’s food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is facing strong criticism for deliberately delaying the implementation of crucial warning labels on High Fat, Sugar, and Salt (HFSS) food products. This comes despite a clear Supreme Court order on April 9, 2025, which mandated the completion of the "entire exercise" within three months. Adding to the controversy, the FSSAI is reportedly hiding expert reports and over 14,000 public comments under the pretext of "trade secrets."

Ecological alarm over pumped storage projects in Western Ghats: Policy analyst writes to PM

By A Representative In a detailed letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, energy and climate policy analyst Shankar Sharma has raised grave concerns over the escalating approval and construction of Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) across India’s ecologically fragile river valleys. He has warned that these projects, if pursued unchecked, could result in irreparable damage to the country’s riverine ecology, biodiversity hotspots, and forest wealth—particularly in the Western Ghats.

‘Act of war on agriculture’: Aruna Rodrigues slams GM crop expansion and regulatory apathy

By Rosamma Thomas* Expressing appreciation to the Union Agriculture Minister for inviting suggestions from farmers and concerned citizens on the sharp decline in cotton crop productivity, Aruna Rodrigues—lead petitioner in the Supreme Court case ongoing since 2005 that seeks a moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops—wrote to Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on July 14, 2025, stating that conflicts of interest have infiltrated India’s regulatory system like a spreading cancer, including within the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Gurdial Singh Paharpuri: A lifetime of revolutionary contribution and unfulfilled aspirations

By Harsh Thakor* Gurdial Singh Paharpuri, a Central Committee member of the Communist Party Re-Organisation Centre of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPRCI(ML)), passed away on July 2, marking a significant loss for the Indian Communist Revolutionary movement. For six decades, Singh championed the cause of revolution, leaving an enduring impact through his lifelong dedication to the global proletarian movement. His contributions are considered foundational, laying groundwork for future advancements in revolutionary thought. He is recognized as a key figure among Indian Communist revolutionary leaders who shaped the mass line, and his example is seen as a model for revolutionary communists to follow.

Civil rights coalition condemns alleged abduction of activist Samrat Singh by Delhi police

By A Representative The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), a collective of civil and democratic rights organisations, has strongly condemned what it describes as the illegal abduction of psychologist and social activist Samrat Singh by a team of Delhi Police officials. The incident occurred on the evening of July 12, 2025, at Singh’s residence in Yamunanagar, Haryana.

Historic Supreme Court ruling grants tribal women equal right to inherit property

By Raj Kumar Sinha* The Supreme Court of India has delivered a landmark judgment declaring that denying tribal women inheritance rights solely based on gender is unconstitutional. The court affirmed their equal right to ancestral property, stating that refusing a share in such property to a tribal woman or her legal heirs on the basis of sex is both unjust and unconstitutional.

A disconnect between data and daily life: India's inflation puzzle

By Hemantkumar Shah* In recent news, the government has announced that the inflation rate has reached a six-and-a-half-year low. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation for June stood at just 2.1 percent, down from 2.82 percent in May. This is the lowest rate in 77 months, and the ministry even claims that food prices have fallen by 1.06 percent compared to last year.

Search This Blog