India rejects UN expert's youth rights claims as hearsay

India has rejected as “hearsay” a report by a United Nations human rights expert that referred to a “satirical political movement” created by Indian youth and claimed that young people faced retaliation or stigma for discussing mental health or gender justice, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

India urged the expert to verify claims before using them to criticise the country, saying the report relied on anonymous and unverified submissions.

First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Anuj Swarup made the remarks during an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association at the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee.

Swarup objected to the report by Special Rapporteur Gina Romero, particularly her assertion that young people in India faced retaliation or stigmatisation for discussing mental health or gender justice. He said Romero had cited only “unnamed submissions” in a footnote.

“A sweeping charge against the world’s largest youth population, resting on anonymous and unverified claims, is not evidence. It is hearsay dressed up as a UN report, and my delegation rejects it outright,” Swarup said, according to PTI.

“A mandate holder who relies on anonymous inputs to generalise for 1.4 billion people does a disservice to the very mandate she holds. We urge this Special Rapporteur to verify before she vilifies and to bring the required rigour and fairness in her reports,” he said.

In her report, Romero noted that young people in India had created a “satirical political movement”, referring to the Cockroach Janata Party. She also said that “young people from India reported retaliation or stigmatisation for discussing mental health or gender justice”.

Swarup said, “This level of arbitrary report writing is precisely the reason that the United Nations and its institutions have lost credibility.”

He said freedom of peaceful assembly and association, along with freedom of speech and expression, was guaranteed to every Indian citizen under Article 19 of the Constitution. These rights were protected by an independent judiciary, a free press and an empowered Human Rights Commission, he added.

India also described the report’s reference to the satirical political movement as ironic. “In which repressive State does a satirical youth party question the government, marches on the capital, and then sits across the table with senior national leaders,” Swarup said.

He referred to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ statement at the Human Rights Council last month that dialogue with young leaders was more effective in the context of a youth-led movement in India. “Perhaps that update escaped the Special Rapporteur’s attention,” Swarup said.

He added that when students protested over irregularities in public examinations this summer, the government engaged constructively with them. Within weeks, Parliament amended the Public Examinations Act, doubled punishments for paper leaks, overhauled the examination system and created fast-track courts in every state to prosecute people involved in examination fraud, he said.

“This is the true testament of democracy in action. Youth represents our strength and shared future,” Swarup said. Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added that the capabilities of young people would become India’s capabilities and their success would take the country’s success to new heights.

Swarup said more than five million young people participated in the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue this year and helped shape national priorities through direct engagement with the Prime Minister. He added that Modi and several ministers continued to engage with the country’s youth directly and through social media.

India, therefore, rejected the Special Rapporteur’s claims as unverified and maintained that constitutional protections, dialogue with young people and the government’s response to student protests demonstrated its approach to youth participation and civil freedoms.

With PTI Inputs

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