Geneva based UN Human Rights Council has expressed alarm over misuse of counterterrorism measures against ethnic minorities in Manipur state of India.

In a joint statement, 19 experts at the Council have called on India to eradicate all laws that interfere with the exercise of religious freedom and perpetuate persecution of religious and ethnic minorities.    

The statement makes mention of religious freedom conditions in India which have worsened in recent years as laws at local, state, and national levels encourage mobs and vigilante groups to carry out violent campaigns against religious minorities.

Over two hundred people of Meiti and Kuki Christian tribes have been killed and thousands displaced so far due to violence in Manipur that started in April this year.