Rubio calls EC protests India's internal matter, declines to comment

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday declined to comment on the recent protests against the Election Commission in India, describing them as an internal political matter that should be decided by the Indian people.

Rubio, who is currently visiting India, also dismissed a reference to criticism by United Nations human rights experts over the police response to demonstrations in the national capital.

"It's a domestic political matter. I'm not going to get involved in their politics. This is a democracy. They have elections here, so I'm not going to opine on their domestic political matters," Rubio said.

The US Secretary of State maintained that Washington would refrain from commenting on India's domestic political developments.

𝗥𝘂𝗯𝗶𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

Rubio said protests were common in democratic societies, including the United States, and often reflected differences of opinion among citizens.

"We have protests every day in the United States," he said, while distinguishing peaceful political demonstrations from incidents involving violence and destruction of property.

He referred to riots in Europe involving vandalism, break-ins and arson, clarifying that he was not placing peaceful demonstrations in the same category.

"But in many ways, the fact that people are out there expressing themselves – I'm not talking about India; in any country in the world – is the sign that this is a country where there's political discourse and so forth and differences of opinion," Rubio said.

He reiterated that the United States would leave questions concerning India's political affairs to its citizens and institutions.

"We're not going to comment on internal political matters. That's for the Indian people to decide and navigate," he said.

𝗨𝗡 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀

Rubio's comments followed criticism from more than 20 United Nations human rights experts in Geneva on Tuesday over the handling of youth-led demonstrations in New Delhi.

The experts expressed alarm over what they described as a "repeatedly heavy-handed police response" to peaceful protests and called for accountability for reported human rights violations.

They also sought an independent investigation into allegations of excessive force against demonstrators and restrictions on peaceful assembly

Asked about the UN experts' observations, Rubio questioned their credibility, describing the term "UN experts" as an "oxymoron".

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

The demonstrations have been organised by opposition parties, student groups and activists demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Protesters have raised concerns about the deletion of voters' names, while the Election Commission has maintained that the exercise is intended to remove duplicate and otherwise ineligible entries.

The controversy has also prompted legal challenges concerning electoral roll revisions and restrictions on demonstrations in the national capital.

Rubio, however, reiterated that Washington would not take a position on the political dispute, maintaining that such questions should be resolved through India's democratic processes.