A United Nations anti-discrimination watchdog has called on India to strengthen protections for tribal communities, disadvantaged castes and other vulnerable groups, citing reports of serious rights violations by law enforcement agencies.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said it was gravely concerned by reports of extrajudicial killings, torture and other violence allegedly affecting Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, particularly Dalits, and other ethnic and ethno-religious groups.
The committee also raised concerns over alleged discrimination and hate crimes targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims, Rohingya refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, urging India to take stronger measures against racial and ethnic discrimination.
UN experts further questioned reports of alleged extrajudicial killings disproportionately affecting Adivasi communities in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, and called for stronger legal safeguards against caste- and ethnicity-based discrimination.
India appeared before the committee earlier this month for the first time since 2007, as the UN body reviewed the country’s implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The findings put renewed international focus on minority rights, caste discrimination, police conduct and protections for Indigenous and disadvantaged communities in India.
