India's diplomatic representative to the United Nations challenged findings put forward by Special Rapporteur Gina Romero, arguing that her portrayal of young people in India facing reprisals or social stigma over mental health and gender justice discussions rested on submissions that were neither verified nor attributed to named sources.

Speaking at the 81st UN General Assembly Third Committee's interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on peaceful assembly and association rights, First Secretary Anuj Swarup outlined how India's constitutional framework extends protections for those freedoms to all citizens. The text of Swarup's remarks — delivered to the assembly and beginning with a formal acknowledgement of the special rapporteur's report on freedom of peaceful assembly and association — was circulated by the UN mission through a post on X.

Swarup noted that within India, Article 19 of the Constitution extends to every citizen a set of protections encompassing freedom of speech and expression alongside related liberties, with an independent judiciary, a free press, and an empowered National Human Rights Commission serving as the mechanisms through which those rights are upheld.

Romero's report drew scrutiny over the evidentiary basis for its contention that young people in India encounter retaliation or social stigma when raising matters of mental health or gender justice — a contention grounded, the footnotes reveal, solely in unidentified submissions. Swarup described the document as unverified secondhand information packaged as an official UN report, and stated that his delegation would not accept its findings.

Swarup argued that allegations targeting a demographic of that scale carry no evidentiary weight when they rest entirely on unnamed, unverified sources. He called on the Special Rapporteur to apply more rigorous and balanced standards to her work, contending that drawing broad conclusions about a population of 1.4 billion people from unverified, unnamed sources undermines the integrity of the mandate itself.

Swarup took issue with the report's findings on youth civic space in India, pointing to young people's participation in political movements and their direct lines to senior government officials. He also noted that the report's own text concedes that young Indians built a satirical political movement.

According to Swarup, a youth-oriented satirical party lodged formal challenges to the government, organised a march to the capital, and ultimately secured a seat at the table with senior national leaders. He described these as outcomes consistent with a functioning democracy.

Speaking at the Human Rights Council the previous month, the High Commissioner for Human Rights put forward the view that engaging directly with young leaders yields better outcomes within the context of youth-driven movements across India. Swarup noted that the special rapporteur may not have had sight of that particular update.

Swarup noted that when students took to the streets that summer over reported irregularities in public examinations, authorities entered into dialogue with them and moved to address fraudulent practices in the testing system. Legislation amending the Public Examinations Act passed through Parliament within a matter of weeks, with penalties for paper leaks doubled, the broader examination framework restructured, and dedicated fast-track courts established in each state to handle cases tied to assessment fraud. He described the moment as a demonstration of democratic principles at work.

Citing the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue — a forum that drew more than five million attendees — Swarup described younger generations as occupying a central place in national planning, while also characterising youth as both a source of collective strength and a foundation for the country's path forward. The forum was structured to bring participants' policy input directly before the Prime Minister.

He noted that a number of cabinet members, the Prime Minister among them, maintain direct contact with young people across the country as well as through social media platforms. He called on the Special Rapporteur to ground her findings in thorough verification and to apply consistent standards of fairness across her reporting.

Gina Romero announced via X that she would be presenting her latest report to the UN General Assembly the following day. Romero, who holds the UN Special Rapporteur mandate covering peaceful assembly and association rights and works as a human rights advocate from Colombia, has argued that young people constitute a key actor in these spaces, while noting that a number of governments have moved to suppress, marginalise, and exclude them.