Pakistan in bottom 10 countries for freedom of speech

The country ranked 11 places below India with a score of 2.78; US tops the list with 5.73

Pakistan ranks among the bottom 10 countries for supporting free speech, a global freedom of speech index recently revealed.

Data compiled by Pew Research Centre after conducting a survey of 37 states found that Pakistan scored a dismal 2.78, only above Jordan and Senegal with scores of 2.53 and 2.06 respectively.

Pakistan performed well below its neighbour India, plunging 11 places below the latter which scored 3.68.



On the contrary the UK is the 10th most supportive country of free speech out of the 37 states surveyed. The index was based on average responses to eight survey questions, five pertaining to free speech and three about freedom of the press.

Each response supporting free speech was scored as one point while each negative was scored as zero points, thus creating a scale from zero to eight. The mean score for the countries listed in the index was found to be 4.07.

PHOTO: PEW RESEARCH CENTRE

Earlier on October 12, a Global Hunger Index said 22 per cent of Pakistan's population was undernourished, though it improved from a previous “alarming” hunger level among developing countries.

Ranked 108 among 118 countries on the index, Pakistan remained on a “serious” level, scoring 33.4 against 35.1 in the 2008 index.



Similarly, on August 18, The Reputation Institute in its annual RepTrak index named Pakistan in the list of countries with the worst reputation.

The index was calculated based on the level of tolerance, safety, standard of living and attractiveness to tourists. The overall marks were given out of 100. Intolerance, religious extremism, and poor foreign relations seemed to be common features across all countries on the list.

The article originally appeared on Indy 100