‘Rights violations’ report by US deeply biased: MEA

NEW DELHI: India on Friday described a US State Department report citing alleged incidents of human rights violations including in Manipur as ‘deeply biased’ and said it reflects a poor understanding of India and it attach no value to it.

The annual report of the State Department highlighted instances of human rights abuses in Manipur following the outbreak of ethnic conflict.

“This report is deeply biased and reflects a poor understanding of India, “External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

“We attach no value to it and urge you to do the same, “he said at his weekly media briefing.

The report also mentioned the raids by Indian tax authorities on the office of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

The India section of the report said local human rights organisations, minority political parties and affected communities criticised the country’s government for the delayed action to stop violence and provide humanitarian assistance in Manipur.

According to the report, there were a number of press and civil society reports of representatives of political parties using disinformation tactics against civil society organisations, religious minorities, such as Sikhs and Muslims, and the political opposition, sometimes depicting them as security threats.

Referring to the tax raids on BBC offices, the report said although tax authorities described the searches as motivated by irregularities in the BBC’s tax payments and ownership structure, officials also searched and seized equipment from journalists who were not involved in the organisation’s financial processes.

“The government invoked emergency powers to ban screening of the documentary, forced media companies to remove links to the video, and detained student protesters who organised viewing parties, “the State Department alleged, referring to a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots, the screening of which was banned in India.