India rejects ‘malicious’ UN racial discrimination findings

India has rejected the “politically motivated, highly malicious” references in a UN committee’s findings on racial discrimination in the country, saying the observations contained sweeping generalisations, unsubstantiated allegations and sought to go beyond the mandate of the relevant international convention.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), following India’s 11th periodic review on August 11-12 in Geneva, expressed grave concerns about reports of large-scale violations perpetrated by law enforcement officials against ethnic and ethno-religious groups, indigenous and tribal peoples, including STs and SCs, particularly Dalits, and non-citizens.

“India rejects any politically motivated highly malicious references in the report with all the contempt that it deserves,” MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a response on Wednesday.

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, according to a press statement issued by the UN..

“The committee called on India to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all such allegations and ensure accountability for those responsible,” it added.

The committee also flagged increased law-enforcement operations targeting Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers, including allegations of racial profiling, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment. It raised concerns over deportations and forcible returns, and urged India to address discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes, and refrain from collective expulsions.

Independent monitoring recorded over 1,300 anti-Muslim hate-speech incidents in 2025, including recurring rhetoric attributed to senior officials, noted Stamatia Stavrinaki, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, asking what measures addressed hate speech disseminated online and in political and electoral discourse.

“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, Tushar Mehta, had already rejected the sweeping generalizations, unsubstantiated allegations, or tendency to exceed the Convention’s mandate during the review meeting,” Jaiswal said.

During the review, India highlighted the country’s constitutional safeguards, robust legal framework, pluralism and sustained efforts to protect disadvantaged communities, he said.