United Nations/Geneva: India has strongly rejected feedback by UN consultants on Manipur, terming them “unwarranted, presumptive and deceptive” and asserting that the scenario within the Northeast state is peaceable. Within the observe verbale issued on Monday to the Particular Procedures Department of the Workplace of the Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights, the Indian mission underscored that the scenario in Manipur was peaceable and steady and the Indian authorities was dedicated to taking requisite steps to take care of peace and stability.
“The Authorities can be dedicated to defending the human rights of the folks of India, together with the folks of Manipur,” it stated.
“The Everlasting Mission of India fully rejects the information launch as it isn’t solely unwarranted, presumptive and deceptive but in addition betrays an entire lack of awareness on the scenario in Manipur and the steps taken by Authorities of India to deal with it,” stated the Everlasting Mission of India to the United Nations Workplace and different Worldwide Organizations in Geneva.
India’s response got here after a bunch of UN consultants raised alarm about experiences of “critical human rights violations and abuses” in Manipur, together with alleged acts of sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, residence destruction, pressured displacement, torture and ill-treatment.
Rejecting the information launch by the Particular Process Mandate Holders (SPMH) titled ‘India: UN consultants alarmed by persevering with abuses in Manipur’, the Everlasting Mission of India expressed disappointment and shock that the SPMHs selected to subject the press launch with out ready for the 60 days interval for the Indian authorities to answer a joint communication issued on the identical subject on August 29, 2023.
The Indian mission expressed hope that sooner or later, the SPMH could be “extra goal” of their evaluation, primarily based on the details.
It hoped that the SPMH would “chorus from commenting on the developments, which haven’t any relevance to the mandate given to them by the Council and abide by the established process for issuing information releases and await inputs sought from the Authorities of India earlier than doing so.”
The Indian mission reiterated that India is a democratic nation, with an abiding dedication to the rule of regulation and to selling and defending the human rights of our folks.
“Indian regulation enforcement authorities and safety forces are dedicated to coping with law-and-order conditions strictly in accordance with the rules of authorized certainty, necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination,” it stated.
Of their information launch, the UN consultants had stated they had been “appalled” by the experiences and pictures of gender-based violence concentrating on tons of of girls and women of all ages, and predominantly of the Kuki ethnic minority.
“The alleged violence consists of gang rape, parading ladies bare on the street, extreme beatings inflicting loss of life, and burning them alive or useless,” the consultants stated. The consultants additionally pointed to an “insufficient humanitarian response” within the wake of the grave humanitarian scenario in Manipur following the newest spherical of neighborhood battle between the predominantly Hindu Meitei and the predominantly Christian Kuki ethnic communities that erupted in Might 2023.
