CHANDIGARH: A political brouhaha has erupted with the BJP and Congress flaying Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over him questioning the logic behind all the US planes carrying illegal Indian deportees landing only in Amritsar and accusing the Centre of “conspiring” to divert the landings to Punjab.
A second US military plane carrying 119 deportees landed in Amritsar late on Saturday night, while a third plane carrying 157 deportees is scheduled to land on Sunday. Earlier this month, the first plane carrying 104 deportees had landed in the city, after a nearly 40-hour journey, during which they were handcuffed and had their legs chained chained, sparking nationwide outrage over inhumane treatment by the US.
In the three batches, 128 deportees hail from Punjab.
The BJP and the Congress have hit back at the Aam Aadmi Party, whose Chief Minister in Punjab Bhagwant Mann alleged two days ago: “What is the criterion for choosing Amritsar? The Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs should tell me. Why did you choose Amritsar and not the national capital? You did this to defame Punjab and Punjabis.”
Mann also dragged Prime Minister Narendra Modi into the controversy, alleging he “did not bother to take up the issue” with US President Donald Trump during their bilateral meeting on February 13 .
The AAP leader also sought to make it a region vs Centre issue, saying, “The BJP-led Centre always discriminates against Punjab. It does not let go of any chance of defaming the state. As part of a conspiracy, they are trying to defame Punjab and Punjabis.”
The BJP hit back at Mann, senior BJP leader RP Singh writing on X, “Amritsar is the closest international airport for flights entering India from the USA. That’s why the US plane carrying illegal immigrants is landing there. Stop politicising the issue and promoting conspiracy theories due to your lack of knowledge.”
BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the Punjab government and police were aware of how travel agents loot Punjab youth by prompting them to sell their lands to go to America by taking illegal routes.
He flayed the state government, asking, “How could such travel agents flourish? They made thousands of people jobless. AAP should think about how they destroyed Punjab. They said that people would leave everything (in the US) and return to Punjab, but they are selling their lands to leave Punjab, and AAP is still creating a drama.”
Punjab BJP vice president Fatehjung Singh Bajwa said Mann was degrading his own state. “These agents are taking huge sums of money and sending the children to other countries. Immigration is the biggest industry in Punjab. What action has been taken against illegal immigration centres? This issue should not be politicised. The families of Punjab are already under pressure. Nothing was done when they left, and now the CM is making it political.”
The Congress also took umbrage at Mann’s statement, with Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, lashing out at the Mann government for not curbing human trafficking of Punjabis in the last three years.
Bajwa said that the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act 2012 regulates the profession of travel agents to check and curb illegal and fraudulent activities of travel agents indulged in organised human smuggling in Punjab. “Can CM Mann, who also holds the home portfolio, let the Punjabis know how many travel agents have been booked under the same law in the last three years?” he questioned.
Accusing Mann of not announcing a rehabilitation programme for the first batch of deportees but indulging in a “publicity stunt”, Bajwa threw the chief minister’s accusing words back at him: “Mann said that illegal immigration is not only a problem in Punjab but a national problem. True, but is his government not responsible for acting if any illegality happens in the state? He seems to have been running away from his responsibilities. It was one of AAP’s main election planks to stop the brain drain by motivating youngsters to explore careers in the state.”
He said that it had been ten days since the first flight carrying 104 deportees, including 30 Punjabis, arrived in Amritsar, and the Mann government failed miserably to provide a helping hand and announce any rehabilitation programme for them. He has not announced compensation for them. The AAP government has not assured them that the government would help them get their money refunded by the illegal travel agents.
Another 119 deportees head for Punjab
A second US military plane landed at the Amritsar International Airport around 11:30 pm on Saturday with 119 deportees. A third plane carrying 157 deportees is also expected to land on Sunday.
Among them 67 are from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and one each is from Himachal and J&K. The deportees comprise four women and two minors, including a six-year-old girl, sources said, adding that most the deportees are in the age group of 18 to 30.