Ashu Saxena / New Delhi
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today slammed the Modi government over the manner in which Indians deported from United States. She demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar should answer on the issue. A US military plane carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday. This was the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump government as part of its crackdown on illegal immigrants.
The deportees claimed that they were handcuffed throughout the journey and were freed only after landing at the Amritsar airport. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi said, “Many things were said that Modi ji and Trump ji are very good friends. Why did Modi ji allow this to happen, could we not send our plane to bring them.” She said, “Should people be treated in this way that they are sent back in handcuffs and chains.”
When asked whether the Foreign Minister should answer, she said, ‘The Prime Minister should answer. Is this the way?’
Opposition leaders protest wearing handcuffs
Leaders of Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and some other opposition parties protested in the Parliament premises on the issue of sending alleged illegal immigrants back to India from the US. Congress organization general secretary KC Venugopal, Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav and many other opposition MPs involved in the protest were wearing handcuffs on their hands. They raised slogans of ‘Desh ka abham nahi sahenge’ and ‘Modi Sarkar hai hai’. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, SP president Akhilesh Yadav and many other opposition leaders joined the protest.
Opposition criticized the silence of the government
Many opposition MPs also criticized the government and raised questions on the treatment being meted out to them. Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said that the way Indians were brought back is proof of the government’s weakness. He told reporters in the Parliament complex, ‘The way women were treated and they were brought back handcuffed like criminals. We will not tolerate the insult of the country.’ He alleged that for Prime Minister Modi, his personal image is more important than the country’s reputation. This is a black day. The Prime Minister is silent.
KC Venugopal, Shashi Tharoor and Kirti Azad surrounded him
Congress leader KC Venugopal wondered why diplomatic relations between India and the US are not being effective in averting such situations. Former Union Minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that America has the legal right to send back people living there illegally, but we are opposing the way they were sent back. He suggested that civilian aircraft could have been used for this purpose. TMC’s Kirti Azad also questioned the way Indians were sent back and termed the incident as painful.
Chirag Paswan’s reply to the opposition
Amidst the attacks of the opposition, Union Minister Chirag Paswan said that the government will put forward its views at the appropriate time. He said, ‘This is a policy decision and the opposition should not politicise it.’