Punjab ministers, SGPC condemn inhumane treatment as deportees recount harrowing journey.
New Delhi: A US military C-17 carrying 116 illegal Indian immigrants landed at Amritsar Airport late Saturday night. The deportees, mostly aged between 18 and 30, included 65 from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, two each from Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Reports claim that many deportees were shackled during the journey, and video clips circulating on social media showed Sikh deportees without turbans. In response, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) condemned the US authorities for not allowing Sikh deportees to wear their turbans and provided turbans at the airport along with langar and bus services.
The aircraft, which landed around 11.35 pm, was the second batch deported under the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. A third plane carrying 112 deportees — primarily from Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat — is expected to arrive late Sunday night.
Among the deportees, two individuals from Rajpura in Patiala district were arrested in Amritsar in connection with a 2023 murder case. Many deportees recounted their harrowing journeys, with one, Daljit Singh from Kurala Kalan in Punjab, stating, “Our legs were chained and hands cuffed throughout the journey. There were three women and three children on board who were not cuffed.” He added that he had traveled via a 'dunki' route—a risky, illegal pathway used by migrants.
Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and power minister Harbhajan Singh met deportees at the airport, with Dhaliwal decrying the inhumane treatment. “You will be very sad to know that American soldiers tied the hands and feet of our Indian immigrants throughout the journey,” he said on social media, promising action against fraudulent travel agents.
This is the second US military aircraft landing deporting illegal Indian immigrants. In an earlier flight on February 5, 104 immigrants were deported to Amritsar, including 30 from Punjab, and 33 each from Haryana and Gujarat.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also criticised the Central government, urging that Amritsar not be turned into a “deport centre.”
