India criticises UN over concerns on police response to youth protests

India has pushed back against concerns raised by UN human rights experts over police handling of youth-led protests, calling for international human rights mechanisms to operate through dialogue and cooperation rather than selective scrutiny of individual countries.

At the UN General Assembly's Third Committee, India called for dialogue, transparency and cooperation in discussions on enforced disappearances.

Warns against selective use of human rights mechanisms

Barkha Tamrakar, deputy secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, made the statement on India's behalf on Tuesday (October 20) during a discussion on the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances.

“India engages with international human rights mechanisms, but such engagement must be based on dialogue, consultation, cooperation with non-selectivity and transparency as guiding principles,” Tamrakar said.

Also Read: India at UN: Pakistan’s civilian governments ‘serve at the mercy’ of Army

“Human rights not to be used as an instrument of political pressure or selective country targeting,” she said, as quoted by the Hindustan Times.

Responding to the wider debate on human rights, Tamrakar said, "We call on delegations to cite the report faithfully, not to inflate a humanitarian communication into a verdict," urging countries to avoid using human rights mechanisms for selective criticism.

UN experts flag police response to youth protests

Her remarks came after more than 20 UN human rights experts in Geneva expressed alarm over what they described as a "repeatedly heavy-handed police response" to peaceful youth-led demonstrations in New Delhi and other parts of India over the past three months.

Also Read: Centre rejects UN panel’s observations on India as ‘politically motivated

In a statement issued on October 20, the experts urged Indian authorities to protect the right to peaceful protest and ensure justice for reported human rights violations during recent and earlier demonstrations.

“This crackdown reflects a broader, troubling pattern,” the experts said. “We have repeatedly alerted the Indian authorities to undue restrictions on peaceful assembly, excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and the targeting of student activists, amongst others.”

Detentions, alleged abuse raised

The experts said hundreds of thousands of students and supporters had protested against government decisions on education and, more recently, voter-roll deletions affecting 130 million people

Also Read: India wants a permanent UNSC seat; is it worth the effort?

They also raised concerns over reports that more than 7,000 youths, journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders and political party members were allegedly detained in New Delhi and taken to remote detention centres. Most were reportedly released within 24 hours.

The statement cited allegations of injuries, ill-treatment and gender-based abuse during protests and detentions. It also questioned the use of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita to impose broad restrictions on public gatherings, suspend transport and shut down internet services.