Amritsar: Ten days after the first flight, a second military aircraft carrying 119 Indian deportees from the United States landed at Amritsar’s international airport late on February 15.
The military aircraft, which landed at 11.30 pm carried 67 passengers 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 Kashmir.
Publicly available flight records show that the deportees travelled in a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III – a large military transport aircraft that can carry cargo, troops, and patients.
Despite the outcry over handcuffing of deportees in the previous deportation flight, the Indian migrants that arrived last night were also shackled.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, along with NRI Affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, received the deportees at Amritsar. On February 5, 2025, Dhaliwal was the sole representative from the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab to receive the first batch of deportees at the same airport.
The second group of Indians arrived a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his visit to the United States, where he met President Donald Trump and reiterated that his government was prepared to take back all verified Indian nationals.
A third plane carrying around 157 deportees is scheduled to land in Amritsar on February 16.
Following the arrival of the first flight with 104 Indian nationals on February 5, an official video showing deportees shackled on the military plane and their subsequent testimonies of inhumane treatment sparked a political uproar, with the opposition criticising the government for not lodging a protest with Washington. India was the first destination outside South and Central America to which the Trump administration had dispatched a military deportation flight.
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar stated in parliament that the US had told India that the use of “restraints” was a part of Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) under American law. The opposition accused the government of justifying the mistreatment and the use of military aircraft for transportation.
Jaishankar had also claimed that women and children were not shackled under the protocol, but multiple accounts from deportees confirmed that women had also been handcuffed.
Later, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said India had “registered its concern” with US authorities over the handling of deportees.
‘Why Amritsar?’
On the evening of February 14, Punjab CM Mann held a late-night press conference to question the Modi government’s move of landing the deportation flights at Amritsar. Mann had stated that this was a deliberate attempt by the Union government to defame Punjab and Punjabis, as revenge for the successful farmers’ protests which forced the government to withdraw three controversial farm laws in 2021.
“Do not make Amritsar the ‘deport centre’. This [the deportation flight] is Trump’s gift to PM Modi. Chained Indians are being deported on a US plane. PM Modi has failed to bring its citizens with dignity,” Mann, who visited Sri Guru Ramdas Ji Airport, Amritsar, to oversee the arrangements, said.
ਬੀਜੇਪੀ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਪੰਜਾਬ ‘ਤੇ ਆਪਣੀ ਹਾਰ ਦਾ ਗੁੱਸਾ ਕੱਢ ਰਹੀ, ਪਰ ਇੱਕ ਵੀ ਕੰਮ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੇ ਹੱਕ ‘ਚ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਤਾ। ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਜੀ ਜਵਾਬ ਦੇਣ ਕਿ ਆਪਣੇ ਦੋਸਤ ਟਰੰਪ ਅੱਗੇ ਆਪਣੇ ਨਾਗਰਿਕਾਂ ਦੇ ਹੱਕ ‘ਚ ਗੱਲ ਕਿਉਂ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਤੀ?
………
बीजेपी सरकार पंजाब पर अपनी हार का गुस्सा निकाल रही है, लेकिन एक भी काम पंजाब के हक में… pic.twitter.com/gMplP0WOYL— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) February 15, 2025
Meanwhile, the opposition in Punjab, including Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, have also targeted the Union government for only landing deportation flights in Amritsar.
Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram wrote on X on the morning of February 15 that “all eyes” will be on the US aircraft. “Will the deportees be handcuffed and their legs tied with ropes? It is a test for Indian diplomacy,” he posted.
Punjab Congress leaders including Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla and Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari also lashed out at the Modi government for singling out Amritsar for deportation flights and allegedly defaming Punjabis in the process.
Defending the Union government, BJP national spokesperson R.P. Singh in a post on X responded: “Amritsar is the nearest international airport for flights entering India from the US. That is why US aircraft carrying illegal immigrants are landing there. Bhagwant Mann should stop politicising the issue and promoting conspiracy theories due to your lack of knowledge.”
