Congress expresses anguish over handcuffing of illegal Indian immigrants, says deported Indians are 'not criminals'

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Thursday expressed anguish over the handcuffing of illegal Indian immigrants, who were deported by the US government, calling it "absolutely inhuman". A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants from various states 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 were from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh. Jaspal Singh, who was among the deportees on Wednesday, claimed that they were handcuffed and legs were chained throughout the journey and those were taken off only after landing at the Amritsar airport.

Senior Congress leader and Chandigarh MP Tewari said, "This is absolutely inhuman to handcuff and shackle people, not allowing them to even use the toilet for 40 hours while deporting them is medieval." 

"What is their crime? They went looking for a better life. They did it illegally but that does not make them criminals that they need to be bound hand and foot and treated worse than animals," he said.

Questioning the Centre over the issue, Tewari said, "What is the point of all those summits with @realDonaldTrump if @PMOIndia & @DrSJaishankar cannot ensure that our country men are not treated in the most humiliating and degrading manner." 

On Wednesday, the C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force landed at the Amritsar airport. The US action came just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Washington visit to hold wide-ranging talks with President Donald Trump.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)

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