By Maktoob
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on Tuesday issued its findings on India after reviewing the country for the first time since 2007 on its implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The “concluding observations” on the combined twentieth and twenty-first periodic reports of India raised wide-ranging concerns over caste discrimination, attacks on minorities, shrinking civic space, racial profiling, the treatment of migrants and the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in India.
“The Committee was gravely concerned about reports of large-scale violations perpetrated by law enforcement officials against ethnic and ethno-religious groups, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, including Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, particularly Dalits, and non-citizens,” the press release stated.
“These included 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.
It called on the Indian government to urgently address discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes against Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers.
The Committee urged the State Party to protect their rights, refrain from collective expulsions and ensure access to international protection in line with the principle of non-refoulement.
The Committee welcomed the submissions of the State Party and constructive dialogue that took place on 11–12 August with Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India, leading the high-level delegation.
During the session, Stamatia Stavrinaki, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, said independent monitoring recorded over 1,300 anti-Muslim hate-speech incidents in 2025, including recurring rhetoric attributed to senior officials.
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