India condemns the UN panel’s rights report’s “politically motivated, malicious references.”

India rejected on Wednesday what it described as “politically motivated” and “highly malicious” remarks in a UN committee’s report on alleged racial discrimination in the nation, claiming the findings included broad generalizations and unfounded accusations. “India rejects any politically motivated highly malicious references in the report with all the contempt that it deserves.”

Following India’s 11th periodic review under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the Ministry of External Affairs responded to media inquiries about the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) press release by saying in a statement that India had taken part in the review in a “spirit of constructive engagement” and reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to fighting racial discrimination.

The statement further stated that throughout the evaluation, India has emphasized its efforts to protect underprivileged people, legal framework, pluralism, and constitutional protections. “During the review, we highlighted India’s constitutional safeguards, robust legal framework, pluralism and sustained efforts to protect disadvantaged communities.”

During the review meeting, the ministry of external affairs emphasized that the “sweeping generalizations, unsubstantiated allegations, or tendency to exceed the Convention’s mandate” had already been rejected by the interministerial delegation headed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

“While we will respond to the Committee’s observations through the established procedure, the inter-Ministerial delegation, which was led by the Solicitor General of India, Shri Tushar Mehta, had already rejected the sweeping generalisations, unsubstantiated allegations, or tendency to exceed the Convention’s mandate during the review meeting,” the MEA stated.

It further stated that India would follow the established protocol in response to the committee’s findings. After the CERD review, the Indian Mission in Geneva also released a thorough statement. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern over reports of “large-scale violations” by law enforcement against non-citizens, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, including Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, especially Dalits, and ethnic and religious communities.

This prompted MEA to take action.India’s 12th and 21st combined periodic reports submitted to CERD in 2023 were the subject of the current review, which took place on August 11–12. According to a statement from India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, the topics of discussion included ICERD implementation, advancements among marginalized groups, and steps to combat prejudice and intolerance.