According to official sources on Tuesday (August 26, 2026), the Indian delegation participating in the 11th periodic review of India’s status by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) rejected the Committee’s findings.
The Hindu reported that this remarks were shared with them just hours after UNCERD expressed that it was "gravely concerned" about reports of human rights violations affecting a large section of India’s population, including Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Dalits, and Rohingya refugees.
In a press statement urging action against “hate speech” and “hate crimes” in India, the Committee noted a rise in incidents targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims and urged the Government of India to “ensure accountability” for these abuses.
During the review, India highlighted its constitutional protections, robust legal system, pluralistic nature, and continuing initiatives to safeguard marginalized communities.
According to an official source responding to a query from The Hindu, the inter-ministerial delegation led by Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta had already rejected sweeping generalisations, unsubstantiated allegations, and any attempt to exceed the Convention’s mandate during the review session.
Earlier, UNCERD released a press statement indicating that the Committee was deeply alarmed by reports of widespread abuses committed by law enforcement authorities against ethnic and ethno-religious communities, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, including Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes—especially Dalits—as well as non-citizens.
In its observations, the Committee also noted that these communities have faced “racially motivated violence, excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and prolonged detention without due process, torture, ill-treatment, and sexual violence.”
“The Committee called on India to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all such allegations and ensure accountability for those responsible,” said a press note issued by the Committee that coincided with the ninth anniversary of the Rohingya refugee crisis.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also observed a rise in law enforcement actions directed at “Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers, especially after the 2017 Home Affairs directive and the April 2025 Pahalgam attack in Kashmir.”
It concluded that police checkpoints engaged in racial profiling, resulting in “arbitrary arrests and detentions carried out without due process.”
“The Committee called on India to urgently address discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes against Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers, protect their rights, refrain from collective expulsions and ensure access to international protection in line with the principle of non-refoulement,” the news release from the Committee said.
