The UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Monday criticised India in unusually frank remarks made while addressing the 36th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, said rights defenders working for India’s most vulnerable groups were being harassed or denied protection by the state instead of being seen as allies in building a more inclusive society.

Al Hussein said he was “dismayed” by the rise of intolerance towards religious and other minorities in India. “The current wave of violent, and often lethal, mob attacks against people under the pretext of protecting the lives of cows is alarming,” he said.

Referring to attacks on people who speak out for fundamental human rights, he pointed to the murder last week of journalist Gauri Lankesh, who, he said, “tirelessly addressed the corrosive effect of sectarianism and hatred”.

Al Hussein also criticised both India and Pakistan for not cooperating with his office to assess the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC).

Though Al Hussein said that rights defenders working for the most vulnerable groups, including people threatened with displacement by infrastructure projects such as the Sardar Sarovar Dam, were being subjected to harassment and criminal proceedings, or denied protection. Such groups, he added, should be considered allies in creating a more inclusive society and through this he impliedly criticised Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar arrest.

However Indian authorities has not reacted and kept quiet to the UN high commissioner for human rights comments.