after-us-un-reacts-to-delhi-cm-kejriwal-s-arrest-hope-everyone-s-rights-are-protected

The United Nations (UN) responded to the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in India on Thursday. A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the world body "hopes” that in India and any country that is having elections, people’s "political and civil rights" are "protected" and everyone is able to vote in a "free and fair" atmosphere.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the Secretary-General, made these remarks on Thursday while he was responding to a question on the “political unrest” in India ahead of the upcoming national elections in the wake of the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the freezing of the opposition Congress Party's bank accounts.

“We very much hope that in India, as in any country that is having elections, everyone's rights are protected, including political and civil rights, and everyone is able to vote in an atmosphere that is free and fair,” Dujarric said at the daily press briefing Thursday.
The UN's statement comes after the United States also addressed similar issues regarding Kejriwal's arrest and the Congress party's bank account freeze.

Responding to India's summoning of a senior US diplomat over remarks on Kejriwal's arrest, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller reiterated the US stance, emphasising the importance of fair, transparent, and timely legal processes.

On Thursday, India said the US State Department's recent remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are "unwarranted" and asserted the country is "proud of its independent and robust democratic institutions" and committed to protecting them from any form of undue external influences.

Any "external imputation" on India's electoral and legal processes is "completely unacceptable,"  MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi during his weekly press briefing.

India had earlier expressed strong objection to remarks by the US State Department spokesperson regarding legal proceedings in the country, asserting that India's legal processes are based on an independent judiciary committed to fair and timely outcomes.