Is Pakistan a ‘safer’ country than India?
‘Do you feel safe walking alone at night?’ This is one of the many questions posed by a survey conducted by a global analytics firm called Gallup.
The survey, called Law and Order Index, has positioned Taliban-occupied Afghanistan as the least secured country for the third year.
Meanwhile, India has scored 80 points and has secured the 60th rank on the index that ranges from one to 100, a higher score indicating that more people feel secure in a country.
Let’s take a closer look at the findings of the survey.
How was the survey conducted?
Gallup has been in the survey business for quite a long time. The first survey conducted by the firm was in 1938 in the United Kingdom and since then it has conducted surveys in over 160 countries and areas.
Through the Law and Order Index, countries can measure their progress toward achieving the United Nations’ goal for peaceful and secure societies. The report also helps world leaders to compare each other’s progress.
The results of the Global Law and Order Index 2022 are based on nationally representative, probability-based samples among the adult populations, aged 15 and older. The samples were collected from over 122 countries and territories throughout 2021. Gallup approached about 127,000 respondents via telephone and also conducted face-to-face interviews.
The survey took into consideration four questions through which Gallup could gauge “people’s sense of personal security and their personal experiences with crime and law enforcement.”
The questions were:
- In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the local police force?
- Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
- Within the last 12 months, have you had money or property stolen from you or another household member?
- Within the past 12 months, have you been assaulted or mugged?
What did the survey conclude?
According to the report, the overall results show that security measures worldwide have more or less remained stable between 2020 and 2021. Two of the metrics, the proportion of people who feel safe walking at night and confidence in the police, fell down by one percentage point but still remained much higher since 2006.
About 71 per cent of the respondents across the world said they had never felt threatened to walk alone at night and about 70 per cent of people said that they have confidence in their local police.
While one in nine people said they had property stolen from them or another household member in the past year and about six per cent said they were assaulted or mugged in 2021.
Scores on the index ranged from a high of 96 in Singapore to a low of 51 in Afghanistan. Neither of these two countries was surveyed in 2020, thanks to the pandemic, but Singapore has maintained a higher position on the index in the past years as well.
Even though Afghanistan has scored the lowest this year, its performance has gone up from 43 points in 2019.
Is Pakistan a ‘safer’ country than India?© Provided by Firstpost
Gallup’s survey in Afghanistan was conducted in 2021 when the Taliban completed their takeover and as the US withdrew its troops from the country. Results show that although the country was still in turmoil, the end of the Taliban’s insurgency showed a drop in violence. Nearly 22 per cent of Afghans said that they felt safe walking alone at night in their neighbourhoods in 2021, a double of 12 per cent of those who said so in 2019.
The scores of US, Canada and Western European countries have seen a downward trend in this year’s report. Most Americans have reported low confidence in local police, especially after the killing of George Floyd in 2020, which has notably shaken their faith in the police. Nearly 74 per cent of Americans said they trusted their local police, down from 82 per cent in 2020.
Where does India stand?
India has scored 80 points on the Global Law and Order Index ranking in the 60th position. In terms of rankings, the country is below its neighbours Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
But on the brighter side it’s also placed above countries in terms of points like United Kingdom (79) and Bangladesh (79).
As per the report, respondents from Southeast Asian countries had the largest gains in confidence due to the contributions made by Singapore’s and Indonesia’s improved police services.
In last year’s report, India was positioned at the 56th rank with a score of 81.
What’s the Rule of Law Index?
Another report called the Rule of Law Index was released by the World Justice Project this month.
The report gauges the status of the ‘rule of law’ in over 140 countries and is based on the examination of four principles: accountability (government and private bodies), just law (the law which is clear and stable), open government (accessible), and impartial justice system.
The results of the survey indicated that India stands in the 77th position out of a total number of 140 countries.
India’s overall score of the ‘rule of law’ has decreased by only one per cent this year, with a score of 0.50 in 2021 and 0.51 in 2020.
The country that scored the highest is Denmark with 0.90 points while Venezuela scored the lowest with 0.26 points.
With inputs from agencies
