Oppn comes together against ‘inhuman treatment’, asks why govt did not send own aircraft

In the Parliament complex, a joint protest by the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) saw the participation of the Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, among other MPs.

The ties between the INDIA bloc partners, including the Congress and SP, have been strained lately, with the SP campaigning for the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi Assembly elections.

A member of the Congress said that on the issue of the deportees the Opposition parties had come together spontaneously, “because of the visuals of Indians being chained like terrorists”. “We didn’t even have to communicate with parties,” said a Congress MP.

The Congress announced that it will hold protests at state capitals and District HQs, with senior leaders, party functionaries and workers on Friday. “We strongly oppose both the inhumane treatment of our citizens and the government’s weak stance on this issue,” Congress general secretary in-charge for organization K C Venugopal posted on X.

Gandhi shared a video of one of the deportees, Harvinder Singh, on X, saying how they were “handcuffed, our feet tied with chains” for 40 hours, adding: “Prime Minister, listen to this man’s pain. Indians deserve Dignity and Humanity, not Handcuffs.”

Speaking to reporters after the protest on Parliament premises, Vadra said: “There was a lot of talk about Modiji and Trumpji being friends. Why did Modiji let this happen? Couldn’t we send an aircraft to bring them back? Are humans treated like this – that they are handcuffed, and chained… The PM should answer.”

In the Rajya Sabha, where MPs are allowed to question ministers on a statement made to the House, the INDIA parties including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, AAP, CPI, CPI(M), Samajwadi Party, RJD, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), apart from the AIADMK, posed questions to Jaishankar.

Congress MP Randeep Surjewala sought “four simple clarifications” from Jaishankar and the government. “Does the government know that… 104 Indians were handcuffed and their legs chained… which included 19 women too? They undertook a 40-hour journey with one toilet and were forcefully sent back to India and the government remained silent. Does the government know that America is preparing to send back 7,25,000 Indians in a similar way? Isn’t this the treatment (given to) terrorists and extremists?… Will the government comment on this? How many more Indians have been kept in detention centres by America?… What is their condition and do they have consular access? The third clarification… Does the government which said ‘Ab ki baar Trump sarkaar’ and ‘Namaste Trump’… does it understand that these 7,25,000 Indians went there because the government failed to provide 2 crore jobs per year… When a small country like Colombia could show its eyes to America and show them the right way, then why couldn’t you?” Surjewala asked.

A US military aircraft carrying illegal Indian immigrants upon its landing at the Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport, in Amritsar, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (PTI)

The DMK’s Tiruchi N Siva also sought clarifications, while adding that he was “not pointing fingers at anyone”. “We accept what the External Affairs Minister said, that it (the deportation) is an ongoing process… (But) The way they have been sent is not proper. I would like to know if the Indian Embassy has been contacted by the US government and given information that this number of Indians are being deported… These people were handcuffed, ill-treated…,” said Siva.

The TMC’s Saket Gokhale said that, in his statement, Jaishankar “was more interested in defending the US policy on deportation than the interest of our citizens”. “Why are our citizens being handcuffed?… What stops our government from sending an aircraft?” he said.

The AAP’s Sanjay Singh said that PM Modi keeps talking about his friendship with the US. “Then when they (the Indian nationals) landed on Indian soil, you too are not giving them respect. They were made to travel (like) prisoners on our soil. Small countries are sending their aircraft,” Singh said, asking the minister what the policy going forward would be.

The RJD’s Manoj Jha said that the photographs of the Indians being deported were “worrisome”. “How much advance notice did the government get on deportation and how many are in the pipeline?” he asked. “Did the Indian Embassy provide legal services sought by them? My query is that these people are illegal infiltrators for the US, but they are our citizens… Will the Indian government raise this at a multilateral platform?”

The CPI’s John Brittas pointed to a report by The New York Times saying that military planes have not been used in the past for deportations, and asked what steps the government plans to take against agents sending people abroad illegally.

The Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav asked Jaishankar about the assets of those deported from the US. “Is there any plan to bring these back?” asked Yadav.

The AIADMK’s M Thambi Durai asked if the government planned “revenge” for this action by the US.

The CPI’s P Santhosh Kumar sought data on Indians, including students, in the US.

The Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut said, “Prime Minister Modi is a friend of Donald Trump and has a visit scheduled to the US”, and asked if the PM will raise this issue.

The NCP (SP)’s Fauzia Khan asked if Trump had signed an executive order to cancel student visas of non-citizens who had participated in protests in the US related to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Congress whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said that the statement made by the External Affairs Minister in Parliament was “an insult to all Indians”. “His statement was unsatisfactory, and we hope we get answers to the questions being raised by Opposition parties,” said the Congress leader.

In a statement, former Union minister for Law and Justice and Congress leader Ashwani Kumar called the “ordeal” of Indian citizens deported in a military plane “heartrending” and said: “It is the ultimate denunciation of American pretensions as the global defender of human rights and democracy.”

Kumar sought “a firm and suitable response from the Indian government” to this, and urged Jaishankar to seek punitive action against those responsible.