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A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump government.
Deportation Of Illegal Indians From US: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to issue a statement in Lok Sabha. (File: PTI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to issue a statement in Lok Sabha around 2 PM on the deportation of 104 Indians who entered US illegally.
The Union Minister also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. This came amid uproar in Parliament over the “inhuman” deportation of the illegal immigrants.
As soon as the House assembled, the opposition members, mostly Congress MPs were on their feet trying to raise the issue.
Speaker Om Birla tried to pacify the agitating members by saying the government has taken note of their concerns seriously.
“The issue is serious. It is a matter of foreign policy. The government has taken it seriously. The foreign country also has its own rules and regulations. You can raise your issues at 12 noon and allow the Question Hour to run smoothly,” he said.
The protesting members, however, ignored the Speaker’s pleas and continued the protests following which Birla adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon.
A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
Of them, 33 each are from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh.
One deportee from Punjab shared the harrowing experience of taking the ‘dunki route’ to the US. “We crossed 17-18 hills, and if anyone slipped, there was no chance they would survive. We saw many people injured and left to die. There were dead bodies along the way,” he said. The journey included a 15-hour boat ride, and they were forced to walk 40-45 km. Along the way, their clothes worth Rs 30,000-35,000 were stolen.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had earlier said US President Donald Trump deporting illegal Indian immigrants is “not the first” deportation and that it “won’t be the last”.
“Two or three things have been forgotten by the public. This is not the first deportation and won’t be the last. Even before Trump came, during the Biden administration in the last fiscal year which ended in September, there were already 1,100 illegal Indians sent back from America. The Americans estimate that 7,25,000 undocumented Indians are eligible for deportation. In the last four years, they have arrested around two lakh Indians from Mexico and Canada borders,” he was quoted by news agency ANI.
“If they are citizens of India we have an obligation to take them back, there is no debate about it. We have to take them back,” he added.
