India rejects UN concerns over Delhi protest detentions (Img: Dynamite News)
New Delhi: India on Saturday rejected concerns raised by the United Nations human rights office over the mass detention of protesters in New Delhi, calling them "misplaced" and asserting that the right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the Constitution.
In a post on X, India at UN described the remarks by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as "unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of India".
"We have seen the OHCHR’s remarks about today’s events in New Delhi. India is the world’s largest democracy, where the right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed by our Constitution and safeguarded by robust institutions, an independent judiciary, and a free media," it said.
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India said peaceful assembly, as in other democracies, is subject to reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order. It also maintained that authorities act within the law and that citizens can approach the courts to seek redress for their grievances.
"As in every democracy, Indian citizens exercise this right subject to reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order. The authorities, for their part, act in accordance with the law, and our courts remain available to all for redressal of any grievances. The OHCHR’s concerns are therefore misplaced and constitute an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of India," it added.
The Indian mission also urged the international body to pay comparable attention to large-scale protests in other parts of the world.
"In this context, OHCHR would also do well to devote comparable attention to large-scale protests elsewhere, consistent with its mandate of impartiality and non-selectivity," it said.
The response came after the OHCHR expressed concern over mass detentions during a protest in New Delhi against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, organised by the Cockroach Janata Party.
