United Nations: India has strongly criticised a United Nations human rights report that claims the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam influenced its treatment of Rohingya refugees, calling the assessment biased and communal.
Responding to the report by Thomas Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, BJP MP Dilip Saikia said, “I strongly denounce the biased approach adopted by the SR [special rapporteur] of the innocent civilian victims of the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam through biased communal lens.”
Saikia, part of India’s delegation to the UN General Assembly, rejected the claim that the attack had any bearing on India’s handling of displaced persons from Myanmar. “The allegation that this terrorist attack impacted displaced persons from Myanmar has absolutely no factual bearing,” he said during a briefing on Myanmar’s human rights situation.
Andrews, a former US Congressman and current director of Harvard University’s Southeast Asia Human Rights Project, alleged that Rohingya refugees in India have faced increased pressure since the Pahalgam incident, despite no Myanmar nationals being involved. He claimed refugees had been detained, interrogated, and threatened with deportation, with some reportedly sent to Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Saikia dismissed the report as prejudiced, urging Andrews not to rely on “unverified and skewed media reports” aimed at maligning India. He emphasised India’s pluralistic society, which includes over 200 million Muslims.
Addressing concerns about radicalisation, Saikia said India had observed troubling trends among displaced persons, which were impacting law and order. He also referenced the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), led by Karachi-born Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi, which Amnesty International has linked to communal violence against Hindus in Myanmar in 2017.
On India’s broader stance, Saikia reiterated support for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar, the release of political prisoners, and the restoration of democratic processes through inclusive elections.
Special Rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and do not represent the views of the UN Secretary-General.
(Inputs from IANS)