Chained Indian migrants allegedly without legal papers being deported to India on a US military aircraft marking the farthest deportation flight employed by the United States.
| Photo Credit: X – @USBPChief
The Opposition cornered the government on Thursday (February 6, 2025), both inside and outside the Parliament, on the issue of deportation of 104 Indian migrants from the U.S. Citing the warm personal relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump, and the BJP’s claim of making India the Vishwaguru (world leader), they questioned why migrants were “deported in shackles” on Wednesday (February 5, 2025).
The Opposition also said the struggling Indian economy was driving people out of the country, and they had put their trust in unreliable agents out of desperation. The Lok Sabha was adjourned four times amid sloganeering as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar delivered his statement.
As the Lower House got adjourned barely 10 minutes after it took up Question Hour, Opposition MPs staged protests outside the Parliament building.
“It was said that President Trump and Prime Minister Modi are very good friends. Why did Mr. Modi let this happen? Couldn’t we have sent our own aircraft to bring them back? Is this how humans are treated? That they are sent back handcuffed and shackled?” Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav added, ”Those who were showing the dream of making India Vishwaguru, why are they silent now? Indian citizens are deported to India handcuffed like slaves and in inhumane conditions. What is the External Affairs Ministry doing?”
Congress MP K.C. Venugopal said that the entire episode threw light on the desperation and helplessness of the people caused by economic hardship. “Even now, the government is conspicuously silent about its approach to address this crisis of unemployment and hopelessness that has been exposed by these events,” he added.
Deportation issue in Rajya Sabha
In Rajya Sabha, Opposition members were offered the opportunity to ask questions after Mr. Jaishankar’s statement. Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, Trinamool Congress’s Saket Gokhale, John Brittas of Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh, citing the example of Colombia which had sent an airplane to bring back its deportees, asked why India didn’t do the same.
Mr. Brittas further said that military aircraft were rarely used for deportation, and asked why was it done in India’s case. “These deportees are among the people who ran away from India, which is a failing economy, looking for better opportunity,” Trinamool MP Mr. Gokhale said.
SP leader Ramgopal Yadav asked the government whether it knew that the deportees had left behind their property and other belongings. “Will the government help them bring it back too?” he asked. The Nationalist Congress Party (SP)‘s Fauzia Khan asked if the visas of Indian students who participated in anti-Israel protests at universities will be canceled. The AIADMK’s M. Thambidurai asked if the action against Indian deportees was influenced by the fact that Kamala Harris, who is of Tamil heritage, fought against Mr. Trump in the election. CPI leader P. Sandosh Kumar said that in many households the legal status of the family members may vary. “Do we have information on how many such Indian families are there,” he said.
The members also demanded that the government take every possible step to track down the agents who sent these deportees to the U.S. and the route they took.
The CPI(M) Polit Bureau in a statement here called the deportation “deplorable and unacceptable”. “The Modi government has shown a craven attitude by not objecting to such treatment of its citizens. Since more batches of Indians are expected to be deported, the government should ensure that they are treated in a humane and dignified manner,” the party said.
The CPI also strongly condemned the inhumane and undignified manner in which the United States administration deported Indian citizens. The government must immediately and firmly raise this issue with the U.S. authorities at the highest level, ensuring such violations are addressed and never repeated, CPI general secretary D. Raja said.
Former Union Minister for Law and Justice Ashwani Kumar said the ordeal Indian citizens were subjected to while being deported to India in a U.S. defence aircraft was the ultimate denunciation of American pretensions as the global defender of human rights and democracy.
Published – February 06, 2025 11:18 pm IST