'Biased, reflects poor understanding': India dumps US report on alleged rights abuse

Responding to a question on the report during the Ministry of External Affairs' weekly media briefing on Thursday, the Ministry's Spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal said, "This report is deeply biased and reflects a very poor understanding of India. We attach no value to it and urge you also to do the same."

The executive summary of the '2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India', released recently, underscores that the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur led to "significant human rights abuses".

The report also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the incident “shameful” and called for action on the incidents.

The annual report, mandated by the US Congress and released by the State Department, also mentioned a 60-hour search of the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai on February 14.

It highlighted that this action followed closely after the broadcaster released a documentary on PM Modi.

Another issue raised by the report was the conviction and sentencing of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a case related to defaming the Modi surname, which led to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha.

Rahul Gandhi was later reinstated after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction.

Highlighting some positive developments, the report mentioned that in July of the previous year, the government allowed a procession in Srinagar, allowing Shias to commemorate Muharram.

"This procession represented the first government-sanctioned recognition of the event in Srinagar since it was banned in 1989. The government imposed some restrictions on the use of slogans or the display of logos of any banned organisations," it said.