Questioning the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) overs its "misplaced" concerns on police crackdown on Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) agitators in Delhi, New Delhi has said India remains world's largest democracy where there is a free media and people have the right to peacefully protest, but underlined there are "reasonable restrictions" as well.
Describing the OHCHR's remarks as an "unwarranted interference" in the internal affairs of India, New Delhi said the world body should also pay considerable attention to large-scale protests in other parts of the world and should be "consistent with its mandate of impartiality and non-selectivity".
"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," the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"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," it added.
CJP protest and OHCHR's concerns
The CJP had announced a protest on Saturday against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging discrepancies in the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive. However, the CJP was denied permission by the Delhi Police to protest at Jantar Mantar, citing law and order situation.
The police also intensified the security across the capital and hundreds were detained, including CJP's founder Abhijeet Dipke, and co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. Most of the detainees were released, though Dipke, Das and Ranka have not be released it.
Raising concerns over the mass detention, OHCHR urged India to respect the right to peaceful assembly and called for the immediate release of anyone arbitrarily detained. It also urged the authorities to "engage in meaningful dialogue to address the broadly held concerns expressed".
"We call on the authorities to ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and fulfilled," UN human rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement. "Restrictions on peaceful protests must meet strict tests of necessity and proportionality."
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