Working with US govt to ensure deportees not mistreated: India

Oppn forces Lok Sabha adjournments over deportation issue

New Delhi: Opposition parties on Thursday forced repeated adjournments in the Lok Sabha over the deportation of Indians living illegally in the US, even as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserted India was engaging the Trump administration to ensure that deportees were not mistreated during flights.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned on four occasions as Opposition members trooped into the Well of the House and raised slogans over the handcuffing of deportees from the US for the duration of their flight to India.

A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed at the Amritsar airport on Wednesday. This was the first batch of Indians to be deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.

Jaishankar read a statement in the Lok Sabha amid noisy protests by the Opposition. The Lok Sabha was scheduled to take up a discussion on the Union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.

Several Opposition leaders, including the Congress’ deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, had submitted notices to move an adjournment motion over the mistreatment of deportees from the US.

The Lok Sabha was first adjourned during Question Hour and later at 12 noon when the presiding officer allowed the tabling of parliamentary papers.

BJP member Dilip Saikia, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings till 2:00 pm.

Similar scenes were witnessed when the House reconvened at 2:00 pm, leading to an adjournment till 3:30 pm.

Amid the sloganeering, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal informed the lower House that Jaishankar would make a statement on the deportations at 3:30 pm, raising expectation that the proceedings would resume after the External Affairs Minister’s statement.

Jaishankar said US policy on dealing with immigration had provisions to use restraints during deportations and the government would engage with the US to ensure that there was no mistreatment of returning deportees.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the proceedings for the day as the Opposition protests continued after Jaishankar’s statement.

Earlier in the day, Opposition leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), and those from the Left parties, protested against the treatment meted out to the Indians by US authorities by staging a demonstration in Parliament complex.

Some of the Opposition leaders protested while wearing handcuffs.

Carrying placards that read “Humans. Not prisoners”, the Opposition leaders said they would not tolerate the insult to India and raised slogans such as “Indians insulted. India won’t stay silent” against the government.

“We, the INDIA parties, shall not tolerate the humiliation of Indian nationals,” they said.