The United Nations Human Rights Office has recently broken its silence on the severe unrest that has paralyzed major countries across Europe. However, for many observers, the timing and the overall attitude of this response highlight a very clear double standard. To understand this bias, one only needs to look back to October 10.

On that day, when the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) organized unpermitted demonstrations in Delhi, the UN was incredibly fast to react. They did not wait for the dust to settle; instead, they instantly broadcasted their worries regarding what they termed "mass detentions" on the exact day the political events unfolded in India.

In sharp contrast, weeks of shocking videos showing police clashes, widespread arson, and absolute chaos across Europe circulated globally on social media before the UN decided to speak. It was not until October 20 that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, finally addressed the widespread vandalism destroying cities in France and neighboring nations. Even then, his approach was remarkably gentle. He softly asked the rioters to step back from aggression. The headline chosen for this delayed statement was surprisingly mild: “Europe protests: Türk says only way forward is dialogue.”

European Cities Burn But The UN Only Suggests ‘Dialogue’

While major French cities have been consumed by fires, and critical government infrastructure—including the Supreme Court building in Albania—was set ablaze, the United Nations maintained a surprisingly relaxed tone. For the global body, the best cure for burning streets is a safe, polite conversation. They casually brushed off the highly destructive riots as just "mass protests".

For weeks, Europe witnessed unchecked violent demonstrations. Rioters looted stores, burned properties, and violently clashed with heavily armed police, resulting in thousands of people being thrown in jail. Yet, the UN looked at this continent-wide emergency and offered nothing but a passive request for people to talk to each other. As noted in their official release, the agency concluded that “The best and only way forward is inclusive and safe dialogue.”

Ignoring Mass Arrests And Police Force Across Europe

What makes the October 20 UN release truly shocking is the information it completely leaves out. The international body did not even bother to specifically mention the reality of mass imprisonments across European nations. In France alone, local law enforcement has arrested more than 2,500 individuals to date.

Instead of directly addressing these confirmed arrests, the UN statement offered only a mild note of worry about "reports" of police using unnecessary and excessive force, including against children. By choosing to label actual, well-documented police crackdowns as mere unconfirmed claims, the UN deliberately ignored the very clear videos online showing European police aggressively tackling demonstrators. They simply asked for independent investigations into any unlawful acts by security teams.

Going further, the UN politely advised European leaders to look into the root causes of the anger. They pointed to social issues like housing, education, public services, economic inequality, and the skyrocketing cost of living, making it sound like friendly engagement could easily fix the chaos.

However, by the time this advice was given, the damage was already done. What started in France as student complaints about public services and education quickly exploded into violent riots over living costs. This resulted in roughly 2,500 arrests, massive looting, and the destruction of cherished historical monuments. The violence was not limited to France. In Milan, Italy, the police officially reported 271 arrests after two consecutive days of violent street battles. Over in Belgium, security forces blasted demonstrators with water cannons and heavy tear gas. Meanwhile, in Albania, severe clashes left hundreds of people injured—including several police officers—and resulted in the nation's Supreme Court building catching on fire.

The Swift Condemnation Of India’s Precautionary Law Enforcement

The hypocrisy of the UN becomes impossible to ignore when comparing its gentle treatment of Europe to its aggressive stance on India’s unpermitted CJP gatherings.

When Indian authorities took preventive security measures to stop protesters from unlawfully assembling in Delhi on October 10, the UN Human Rights Office panicked immediately. The bias is perfectly visible in the exact headlines chosen by the agency. The October 10 statement targeting India loudly declared: “India: Concerns over mass detentions before and during protests”. Meanwhile, the October 20 statement that grouped together the burning of Albania, Belgium, France, Italy, and Portugal carried the very soft title: “Europe protests: Türk says only way forward is dialogue”.

For India, the UN sounded a global alarm on day one. But for five separate European nations dealing with weeks of looting and fires, the UN bundled them into one single document and casually stated that talking was the only solution.

In the document focused on India, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan deliberately pointed out worries regarding the detention of civil society figures, protest leaders, demonstrators, journalists, and lawyers in Delhi. Yet, in the document focused on Europe, the word "detention" was completely missing, despite the fact that France alone locked up vastly more people than India did.

The UN did not stop there with India. They demanded that anyone who was detained be released unconditionally and immediately. They completely ignored the Indian legal system and did not wait for any independent legal review to see why those individuals were arrested. Legal safety precautions made by Delhi police to keep the peace were instantly labeled as arbitrary and unlawful. Meanwhile, thousands of European arrests were quietly swept under the rug.

The selective language is obvious in the official instructions given to the different regions. When speaking to European governments, the UN gently advised: “States must ensure that any law enforcement response remains lawful, necessary and proportionate.” But when speaking to India, they gave a strict order: “The Indian authorities should also ensure law enforcement forces exercise utmost restraint in response to peaceful protesters.”

Ultimately, the UN rushed to put India on trial while the events were still happening. They did not give local Indian authorities time to finish their work, nor did they let Indian courts check if the detentions were legally valid.

New Delhi Rejects UN’s Glaring Bias And Hypocrisy

India did not take this unfair treatment quietly. The country firmly pushed back against the UN's uninvited meddling. Working through its Permanent Mission in Geneva and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India reminded the world that it has very strong constitutional protections for peaceful gatherings, as well as proper legal remedies for anyone who wishes to challenge a police decision.

On October 11, the MEA took a stronger stance. They publicly slammed the UN Human Rights Office for its “extreme selectivity” in its public statements. Indian officials openly questioned why the UN never showed this same level of public anger when violent police crackdowns happened in neighboring countries or right outside the UN's own offices in Europe. The Indian ministry issued a clear warning: this kind of obvious double standard severely ruins the reputation of international groups and breaks global trust in multilateral cooperation.

Baseless Accusations Meet A Strong Pushback From New Delhi

The unfair focus on India continued well past the initial street protests. On Tuesday, October 20, a group of over 20 UN experts located in Geneva released a statement claiming they were worried about a “repeatedly heavy-handed police response” against young protesters in Delhi, and they demanded justice for supposed human rights abuses.

India responded with power to tear down these false claims. On the exact same day, during a meeting of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances at the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, India defended itself. Indian representatives called out the deliberate attempts to use incomplete data and fake accusations to create a bad image of the world's largest democracy.

Barkha Tamrakar, the Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, stood firm and made it very clear that global human rights tools must never be used as weapons for political pressure or to selectively target specific countries. She rejected the UN's habit of treating unchecked rumors as absolute facts, but she also noted that the country is open to clarifying real issues. Tamrakar officially stated: “India firmly opposes any attempt to convert unverified allegations, incomplete statistics or a report that contains no India country (specific) observation into a negative characterisation of the world’s largest democracy. India remains prepared to clarify specific, properly documented cases through established channels.”

She continued by setting the rules for future interactions, adding: “India engages with international human rights mechanisms, but such engagement must be based on dialogue, consultation, cooperation with non-selectivity and transparency as guiding principles.”

Global Press Bias: Downplaying Western Riots While Cheering On Indian Protesters

Sadly, this hypocritical behavior is not just limited to the United Nations. An earlier report by OpIndia highlighted how major international news companies show the exact same double standards in their daily journalism.

When French towns were being destroyed by people wearing masks, looting shops, burning old buildings, and fighting the police, famous news companies like the BBC, France 24, and The New York Times constantly watered down their reporting. Instead of honestly describing the extreme violence on European streets, these massive media outlets chose to describe the chaotic destruction as “mostly peaceful” demonstrations. They also spent most of their time complaining about how the police responded, rather than holding the rioters accountable.

However, when these exact same Western news outlets reported on the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests in India, their attitude completely changed into one of celebration. In France, the media claimed that the protesters were just being “manipulated” by politicians trying to win upcoming elections. But in India, they painted agitators, like far-left activist Neha Bora, as brave and “feisty Gen-Z” heroes fighting an oppressive government.

Similarly, government-funded channels like France 24 and newspapers like the New York Times were incredibly happy to glorify the people causing political disruptions in India. They constantly described standard, routine police safety steps in Delhi as “rough treatment”. At the exact same time, these global news giants actively ignored or hid the significantly worse property damage, violence, and mass arrests happening right in their own European backyards.