NEW DELHI: India has rejected the remarks on it in the recent US State Department Report on Human Rights.
“This report is deeply biased and reflects a poor understanding of India. We attach no value to it and urge you to do the same,” said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday.
The U.S. State Department, in its 2023 Human Rights Report (HRR) -- a country-wise compilation of human rights practices -- has listed what it terms as credible reports of more than a dozen different kinds of human rights abuses in India.
According to the report, these include extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest or detention, torture to coerce confessions, repeated imposition of Internet shutdowns and blocked telecommunications, surveillance of civil society activists and journalists, intimidation and Internet trolling of human rights defenders, punishment of family members for alleged offences by a relative, and “crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of ethnic and caste minorities”, among others.
Meanwhile, referring to pro-Palestinian student protests across universities in the US, India has said that every democracy has the right to freedom of expression.
“We have seen reports on the matter and have been following related events. In every democracy, there has to be the right balance between freedom of expression, sense of responsibility and public safety and order. Democracies in particular should display this understanding in regard to other fellow democracies. After all, we are all judged by what we do at home and not what we say abroad,” Jaiswal said.