'Misplaced, unwarranted': India slams OHCHR for raising concern over SIR protest

India has dismissed the United Nations Human Rights Commission's (OHCHR) concern over the mass detention of protesters in Delhi as "misplaced." In a social media post on X, India's UN account stated that the OHCHR's remarks amounted to "unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of India." The country's government emphasized that the right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and protected by its institutions, including an independent judiciary and free media.

India, as a democracy, allows citizens to exercise this right subject to reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order, and authorities act in accordance with the law. The OHCHR's concerns are therefore deemed misplaced and constitute unwarranted interference in India's internal affairs, the Indian government added. The government also advised the international body to devote comparable attention to large-scale protests in various parts of the world, as per its mandate of impartiality and non-selectivity.

The OHCHR had raised concerns over mass detentions during a protest by the Cockroach Janata Party-led movement against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in New Delhi.