India slams UN over "selective targeting" after experts flag crackdown on protests

India has criticised attempts to portray the country negatively at the United Nations, saying human rights should not be used as an instrument of political pressure or the selective targeting of nations, a day after UN human rights experts raised concerns over the police response to youth-led protests.

Barkha Tamrakar, deputy secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, made the remarks on India's behalf during a discussion at the UN General Assembly's Third Committee on Tuesday, under the agenda item concerning 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.

She urged UN member states to interpret reports accurately and cautioned against presenting unverified allegations as established facts.

“We call on delegations to cite the report faithfully, not to inflate a humanitarian communication into a verdict,” she said.

The remarks came after more than 20 independent UN human rights experts expressed concern over what they described as a repeatedly heavy-handed police response to peaceful, youth-led demonstrations in Delhi and other parts of India.

In a statement issued in Geneva on Tuesday, the experts called on Indian authorities to stop the alleged use of excessive force, lift blanket restrictions on public assemblies and investigate reported human rights violations.

The experts said demonstrators had faced baton charges, arbitrary detentions and restrictions on their ability to assemble peacefully. They also raised concerns about alleged gender-based violence and the use of digital surveillance during protests.

The demonstrations initially centred on government decisions concerning the education system and later intensified over the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The experts said the voter-list revision affected around 130 million people and raised concerns that marginalised communities, including Muslims and members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, could be disproportionately affected.

Opposition parties and protest groups have alleged irregularities in the revision process and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The BJP and the Election Commission have rejected allegations of manipulation, maintaining that the exercise aims to remove duplicate, deceased, shifted and otherwise ineligible voters.