MEA accuses UN rights office of double standards over Delhi protest remarks

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday rejected concerns raised by the UN Human Rights Office about mass detentions at Saturday’s protest in Delhi, calling them “unwarranted” and an “unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of India”. It also accused the office of double standards.

It was India’s second reply in two days. Late on Saturday, India’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva said the office’s concerns were “misplaced” and an “unwarranted interference”.

What the UN office said

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on 10 October that it was “concerned by reports of mass detentions of demonstrators, protest leaders, members of civil society organisations, lawyers and journalists, before and during today’s large-scale demonstrations in Delhi”.

Its spokesperson, Thameen Al-Kheetan, said: “We call on the authorities to ensure that the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and fulfilled.” The office said restrictions on peaceful protests “must meet strict tests of necessity and proportionality” and that the Indian authorities should ensure law enforcement forces “exercise utmost restraint”.

All those arbitrarily detained must be immediately and unconditionally released.

India’s two replies

The Geneva mission said 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”. It said Indian citizens exercise this right “subject to reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order”. It added that the OHCHR “would also do well to devote comparable attention to large-scale protests elsewhere, consistent with its mandate of impartiality and non-selectivity”.

The MEA’s statement on Sunday repeated the first point and went further. “Our law enforcement authorities act strictly in accordance with the law, and our courts remain available to all for the redressal of any grievances,” it said. It then turned to the office’s record.

Violent responses to protests in our neighbourhood have gone uncommented, as indeed have law enforcement actions in its own vicinity. Such double standards only erode the credibility of its standing and contribute to the loss of faith in multilateralism.

How the exchange unfolded

1. 10 Oct 2026Police stop the Cockroach Janta Party's march to Jantar Mantar against CEC Gyanesh Kumar; thousands detained in Delhi.
2. 10 Oct 2026UN Human Rights Office calls for the release of all those arbitrarily detained.
3. 10 Oct 2026, lateIndia's mission in Geneva calls the concerns misplaced and an unwarranted interference.
4. 11 Oct 2026Supreme Court, at a special sitting, says peaceful protesters should not be illegally detained.
5. 11 Oct 2026MEA says the office's concerns are unwarranted and accuses it of double standards.

The protest behind the exchange

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), student groups and others had called the march to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. The Election Commission and the BJP deny wrongdoing.

Police sealed off Jantar Mantar, set up checkpoints and suspended mobile internet in the central business district. Those detained included CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, and television channels reported that Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan were also held.

Estimates of the numbers vary. A Home Ministry official put the Delhi figure at about 2,000, Delhi Police sources at nearly 2,500, and other counts exceeded 7,000. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra called the demonstrators “anarchic elements”. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the government had turned the “Mother of Democracy” into a “Muzzled Democracy”.

At a special Sunday sitting, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said people gathering peacefully should not be illegally detained, and that Metro and internet services should run normally, subject to law and order conditions.