India tells UN rights chief to take ‘a long and hard look in the mirror’ over remarks on Kashmir, Manipur

India on Monday slammed the United Nations (UN) human rights chief over remarks on Kashmir and Manipur.

Slamming Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, for using “loose terminology” and “cherry picking” of situations, India asked him to “take a long and hard look in the mirror”.

“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,” said Arindam Bagchi, the Permanent Representative of India to the UN and other International Organisations in Geneva.

VIDEO | 58th regular session of the Human Rights Council: Here's what India's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Arindam Bagchi said reacting to UN human rights chief Volker Turk's remarks on Kashmir, Manipur.

"As India was mentioned by name, let me begin… pic.twitter.com/xlnoJvxydb

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 3, 2025

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In his global update to the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Turk had mentioned Kashmir and Manipur. While Kashmir had long had a Pakistan-supported insurgency and separatist movement, Manipur has been in the grips of ethnic violence since 2023.

Turk called for “stepped-up” efforts to handle violence and displacement in Manipur on the basis of dialogue, peacebuilding, and human rights. For Kashmir, he expressed concerns over “the use of restrictive laws and harassment against human rights defenders and independent journalists resulting in arbitrary detention and a diminished civic space, including in Kashmir”.

In response, Bagchi said that Turk’s global update needs a “genuine” information “at a larger level, we are concerned about the global update’s oversimplifications of complex issues, sweeping and generalized remarks, usage of loose terminologies and apparent cherry picking of situations”.

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Bagchi further said, “The High Commissioner has sensed a pervasive unease, but we would submit that a key element to addressing this is a long and hard look in the mirror by the Office of the High Commissioner.”