India Rejects UN Committee Findings on Racial Discrimination

India has formally rejected findings issued by a United Nations committee regarding racial discrimination in the country, describing the observations as politically motivated, highly malicious, and containing sweeping generalizations and unsubstantiated allegations.

The response follows the 11th periodic review of India by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which took place on August 11 and 12 in Geneva. During the review, the UN committee expressed grave concerns regarding reports of large-scale violations allegedly perpetrated by law enforcement officials against ethnic and ethno-religious groups, indigenous and tribal peoples, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, particularly Dalits, and non-citizens.

According to a press statement issued by the UN, the reported violations by law enforcement officials included racially motivated violence, excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and prolonged detention without due process, torture, ill-treatment, and sexual violence. The committee called on India to conduct prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations into all such allegations and to ensure accountability for responsible parties.

Additionally, the UN committee flagged increased law enforcement operations targeting Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants, and asylum-seekers. These concerns encompassed allegations of racial profiling, arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment, deportations, and forcible returns. The committee urged authorities to address discrimination, hate speech, and hate crimes, and to refrain from collective expulsions.

Stamatia Stavrinaki, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, noted that independent monitoring recorded over 1,300 anti-Muslim hate-speech incidents in 2025, including recurring rhetoric attributed to senior officials. She questioned what measures were being implemented to address hate speech disseminated online and in political and electoral discourse.

In response to the developments, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated on Wednesday that India rejects any politically motivated and highly malicious references in the report with all the contempt that it deserves. He added that while India will respond to the committee's observations through established procedures, an inter-ministerial delegation led by the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, had already rejected the generalizations, unsubstantiated allegations, and the tendency to exceed the mandate of the relevant international convention during the review meeting.

During the Geneva review proceedings, the Indian delegation highlighted the country's constitutional safeguards, robust legal framework, pluralism, and sustained efforts aimed at protecting disadvantaged communities.

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