Second batch of Indian deportees returns to India, some Sikhs not allowed to wear turbans
It was the second batch of Indians to be deported by the Trump administration as part of its crackdown on illegal immigrants
After the first flight brought deportees from the US in shackles, women and children onboard the second deportation plane of the US that landed in Punjab's Amritsar were "not restrained during the flight", PTI reported.
The C-17 aircraft carrying 116 illegal Indian immigrants, including women and children, landed at the Amritsar airport late on Saturday night, with the men among the deportees claiming they were in shackles during the journey.
It was the second batch of Indians to be deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of its crackdown on illegal immigrants. The third batch landed on Sunday.
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On the deportation flight that arrived in Amritsar on Saturday, "women and children were not restrained during the flight", the sources quoted in the PTI said.
The deportees are natives of Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, among other states.
On February 5, a US military aircraft carrying the first batch of 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar. Of the deportees in the first batch, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, and 30 from Punjab.
Sikh deportees 'without turbans'
The second aircraft that brought 116 deportees from the United States prompted several questions from several political leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, over the BJP-led Centre's move to allow planes carrying immigrants to land in Amritsar.
On Saturday's flight, the Sikh deportees were allegedly without turbans.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) strongly condemned the US authorities for allegedly not allowing the Sikh deportees to wear turbans.
SGPC officials, who were deputed for providing "langar" and bus services to the deportees at the airport, gave "dastar" (turban) to the Sikhs.
CM Mann even accused the Centre of trying to "defame Punjab as part of a conspiracy".
"The mass deportation from the United States is an eye-opener for all of us", Mann said on Sunday.
He requested youngsters to shun the idea of going abroad illegally and work hard in the state to ensure its socio-economic growth.
