The landing of US deportation flights in Amritsar has sparked a major political controversy, with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accusing the BJP-led Centre of deliberately targeting Punjab.
A US military aircraft carrying 119 deported Indian nationals is scheduled to land at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar on Saturday. This follows an earlier flight that brought back 104 Indian deportees, marking a significant increase in deportations under the US crackdown on illegal immigration.
Among the 119 deportees, 67 are from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Mann has opposed the Centre’s decision to make Amritsar the designated landing site for these flights. He alleged a political motive behind the move. “Why is Amritsar being singled out? Deportees belong to various states, yet only Punjab is facing this? The BJP-led government is trying to defame Punjab and Punjabis globally,” he said while addressing the media.
The Punjab government has officially lodged a protest with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), questioning why Amritsar was chosen instead of the national capital or other major airports. However, no response has been received from the Centre so far.
Mann also pointed out the irony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussing bilateral relations in the US while Indian migrants were being deported in chains. “Did the Prime Minister raise the issue of the inhumane treatment of these individuals? It seems their return was a ‘gift’ to Modi from the US,” he remarked.
Defending its stance, the MEA stated that Amritsar was chosen for logistical reasons, given its proximity to areas with a high number of undocumented migrants. The Centre has dismissed allegations of discrimination, arguing that it is merely ensuring an efficient return process for deported nationals.
Meanwhile, opposition parties, including the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, have accused both the Centre and Mann of politicizing the issue for electoral gains. The BJP, on the other hand, has defended the deportations, citing illegal migration as a national security concern.
The deportation of illegal Indian immigrants, especially from Punjab, has been on the rise in recent years. Many youth from the state fall prey to human traffickers who lure them with false promises of jobs and visas. Addressing this, Mann asserted that his government is working on a rehabilitation policy for deportees to help them reintegrate into society.
With two more deportation flights expected to land on February 15 and 16, the controversy is far from over. The debate over illegal immigration and the treatment of deported nationals is likely to remain a key political flashpoint in the coming weeks.
