In a strong response to UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk's remarks on Kashmir and Manipur, India's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Arindam Bagchi, said that India continues to be a "healthy, vibrant, and pluralist society."
While addressing the 58th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, Bagchi said, "As India was mentioned by name, let me begin by emphasising that the world's largest democracy continues to be a healthy, vibrant, and pluralistic society. Unfounded and baseless comments in the update contrast jarringly with ground realities."
India’s strong retort came after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, in his global update to the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, mentioned India and referred to the situation in Manipur and Kashmir.
Bagchi said the people of India have "repeatedly proven wrong such misplaced concerns about us” and “we would urge a better understanding of India and our civilisational ethos of diversity and openness, which continue to define our robust and often cacophonous civic space.”
Bagchi said nothing illustrates this divergence more than the passing reference to Jammu and Kashmir, which Turk "erroneously referred to as Kashmir” in the global update.
The Indian envoy said this is ironic in a year that stood out for that region's improving peace and inclusive progress, be it the large turnout in provincial elections, the booming tourism or the rapid development pace.
Asserting that the global update needs a “genuine update”, Bagchi said “at a larger level, we are concerned about the global update’s oversimplifications of complex issues, sweeping and generalised remarks, usage of loose terminologies and apparent cherry picking of situations.
(With inputs from PTI)
