UNITED NATIONS/GENEVA, Sep 5 (PTI): India has strongly rejected comments by UN experts on
Manipur, terming them “unwarranted, presumptive and misleading” and asserting that situation in
the Northeast state is peaceful.
In the note verbale issued on Monday to the Special Procedures Branch of the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, the Indian mission underscored that the situation in Manipur was
peaceful and stable and the Indian government was committed to taking requisite steps to maintain
peace and stability.
”The Government is also committed to protecting the human rights of the people of India, including
the people of Manipur,” it said.
“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,” said the Permanent Mission of
India to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva.
India’s response came after a group of UN experts raised alarm about reports of “serious human
rights violations and abuses” in Manipur, including alleged acts of sexual violence, extrajudicial
killings, home destruction, forced displacement, torture and ill-treatment.
Rejecting the news release by the Special Procedure Mandate Holders (SPMH) titled ‘India: UN
experts alarmed by continuing abuses in Manipur, the Permanent Mission of India expressed
disappointment and surprise that the SPMHs chose to issue the press release without waiting for the
60 days period for the Indian government to respond to a joint communication issued on the same
topic on August 29, 2023.
The Indian mission expressed hope that in the future, the SPMH would be “more objective” in their
assessment, based on the facts.
It hoped that the SPMH would “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 mission reiterated that India is a democratic country, with an abiding commitment to the
rule of law and to promoting and protecting the human rights of our people. Indian law
enforcement authorities and security forces are committed to dealing with law-and-order situations
strictly in accordance with the principles of legal certainty, necessity, proportionality and non-
discrimination,” it said.
In their news release, the UN experts had said they were “appalled” by the reports and images of
gender-based violence targeting hundreds of women and girls of all ages, and predominantly of the
Kuki ethnic minority.
“The alleged violence includes gang rape, parading women naked in the street, severe beatings
causing death, and burning them alive or dead,” the experts said.
The experts also pointed to an “inadequate humanitarian response” in the wake of the grave
humanitarian situation in Manipur following the latest round of community conflict between the
predominantly Hindu Meitei and the predominantly Christian Kuki ethnic communities that erupted
in May 2023. PTI
