India has vehemently rejected the opinions of UN experts on Manipur, calling them “unwarranted, presumptive, and misleading” and insisting that there is calm in the Northeast state.
The Indian mission emphasised that the situation in Manipur was peaceful and stable in the note verbale it sent to the Special Procedures Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Monday, and that the Indian government was committed to taking the necessary actions to keep things that way.
According to the statement, “The Government is also committed to protecting the human rights of all Indian citizens, including those in Manipur.”
According to the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Office and other International Organisations in Geneva, “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 U.N. experts voiced concern about claims of “serious human rights violations and abuses” in Manipur, including alleged acts of sexual violence, extrajudicial executions, home demolition, forced displacement, torture, and ill-treatment.
The Permanent Mission of India rejected the Special Procedure Mandate Holders’ (SPMH) news release titled “India: U.N. experts alarmed by continuing abuses in Manipur” and expressed disappointment and surprise that the SPMHs chose to do so before the Indian government had had a chance to respond to a joint communication on the same subject that was released on August 29, 2023.
The Indian mission expressed the wish that the SPMH would be “more objective” going forward while making their evaluations in light of the available information.
The Permanent Mission of India rejected the press release by 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 without waiting for the 60-day window for the Indian government to respond to a joint communication published on the same topic on August 29, 2023.
The Indian mission expressed the wish that the SPMH would be “more objective” going forward while making their evaluations in light of the available information.
The U.N. experts had stated in their news release that they were “appalled” by the accounts and photographs of hundreds of women and girls, of all ages, primarily of the Kuki ethnic group, who were the targets of gender-based violence.
The experts stated that some of the claimed acts of brutality include gang rape, stripping women bare in public, fatal beatings, and burning them alive or dead.
The experts also cited a “inadequate humanitarian response” as a result of the dire humanitarian situation poor Manipur following the most recent wave of interethnic fighting between the primarily Christian Kuki and the primarily Hindu Meitei ethnic communities, which started in May 2023.
