GENEVA: United Nations (UN) human rights experts have expressed alarm over the repeatedly heavy-handed police response to peaceful, youth-led demonstrations in New Delhi and other parts of India over the past three months, calling on authorities to end the excessive use of force and ensure accountability for reported human rights violations.
The experts urged Indian authorities to respect, protect and fulfil the right to peaceful assembly and ensure justice for violations reported during recent and previous protests.
“This crackdown reflects a broader, troubling pattern,” the experts said, pointing to repeated concerns over restrictions on peaceful assembly, excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances and the targeting of student activists.
#India: UN experts alarmed by heavy-handed police response to peaceful youth-led demonstrations. “Despite the non-violent nature of the assemblies, law enforcement has deployed force against unarmed students”
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— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) October 20, 2026
According to information received by the experts, hundreds of thousands of students and their supporters have staged peaceful demonstrations across India against government decisions concerning the education system and, more recently, the deletion of voter-roll entries affecting an estimated 130 million people, including members of Muslim, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.
Despite the largely peaceful nature of the demonstrations, law enforcement agencies have used force against unarmed students, including baton charges, while preventing thousands of people from joining the protests.
The experts also cited reports that more than 7,000 young people, journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers and political party members were arbitrarily detained in New Delhi and transferred to remote detention centres.
Their phones were confiscated and protest-related material deleted. Most detainees, including protest leaders, were released after 24 hours.
The experts expressed concern over injuries and ill-treatment among protesters, as well as allegations of sexual violence and other forms of gender-based abuse during demonstrations and related detentions.
They also criticised the use of Section 163 of India’s Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the country’s criminal procedure legislation, to impose broad restrictions on public gatherings, suspend public transport and implement internet shutdowns.
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Such measures, the experts warned, raise serious concerns about India’s international human rights obligations, particularly those relating to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, personal liberty, security and the protection of human rights defenders.
They stressed that any restrictions on peaceful demonstrations must have a legal basis, pursue a legitimate objective and meet the tests of necessity and proportionality.
The experts called on Indian authorities to immediately stop the excessive use of force, lift blanket bans on public gatherings and refrain from misusing digital surveillance technologies, including biometric systems, and disrupting internet services.
They further urged the government to launch an independent, impartial and thorough investigation into the conduct of law enforcement agencies and affiliated forces, ensuring accountability, justice and reparations for victims.
The experts emphasised that the government must take steps to prevent similar violations in the future and safeguard the democratic right of students and other citizens to assemble peacefully and express their grievances.
They also called for particular attention to the gender-specific consequences of restrictions on peaceful assembly and reprisals against protesters.
