The Indian mission expressed the hope that the SPMH will be "more objective" going forward, basing its assessment on the facts.
Digital Desk: Indian officials have strongly disagreed with the UN's assessments of
Manipur, calling them "unwarranted, presumptive, and misleading" and insisting that the state's situation is calm.
The Indian mission emphasised that the situation in Manipur was peaceful and stable and that the Indian government was committed to taking the necessary steps to maintain peace and stability in the note verbale it sent to the Special Procedures Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights on Monday.
The statement read, "The Government is also committed to protecting the human rights of all Indian citizens, including those in Manipur."
The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Office and other International Organisations in Geneva stated, "The Permanent Mission of India completely rejects the news release as it is not only unwarranted, presumptive, and misleading but also betrays a complete lack of understanding on the situation in Manipur and the steps taken by Government of India to address it."
India responded when a delegation of UN specialists expressed concern about accusations of "serious human rights violations and abuses" in Manipur, including alleged sexual assault, extrajudicial executions, home destruction, forced relocation, torture, and mistreatment.
The Permanent Mission of India rejected the news release from the Special Procedure Mandate Holders (SPMH) titled "India: UN experts alarmed by continuing abuses in Manipur" and expressed disappointment and surprise that the SPMHs chose to do so before the Indian government had a chance to respond to a joint communication they had issued on the same topic on August 29, 2023, which had a 60-day response period.
The Indian mission expressed the hope that the SPMH will be "more objective" going forward, basing its assessment on the facts.
The SPMH was urged to "refrain from commenting on the developments, which have no relevance to the mandate given to them by the Council, and abide by the established procedure for issuing news releases and wait for inputs sought from the Government of India before doing so."
The Indian delegation reaffirmed that India is a democratic nation that is steadfastly committed to upholding the rule of law and advancing and defending the human rights of its citizens. "Indian law enforcement authorities and security forces are committed to dealing with law-and-order situations strictly by the principles of legal certainty, necessity, proportionality, and non-discrimination," it stated.
The UN specialists had stated in their news release that they were "appalled" by the stories and photographs of hundreds of women and girls of all ages who were being targeted by gender-based violence, who were primarily members of the Kuki ethnic group.
According to the experts, "the alleged violence includes gang rape, parading women in the street naked, severe beatings that result in death, and burning them alive or dead."
The experts also noted an "inadequate humanitarian response" poor the wake of Manipur's dire humanitarian condition during the most recent outbreak of ethnic warfare between the primarily Christian Kuki and predominantly Hindu Meitei ethnic communities, which broke out in May 2023.
Leave A Comment