Punjab: According to sources, at least 24 deported Sikhs were made to remove their turbans by US authorities before deporting them back to India in a military aircraft. They were part of the second batch of Indians that landed at the Amritsar airport on Saturday night. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami condemned the US authorities for being “insensitive” towards the religious sentiments of the community. A source said the Sikh deportees were provided a cloth to cover their heads by SGPC members on their arrival, as they were seen without turbans while completing immigration paperwork. SGPC secretary Pratap Singh said the deportees were treated as if they were “extremists or criminals”.
“By putting the deportees in handcuffs and chains, the US authorities not only violated their fundamental rights but also hurt their religious sentiments by removing their turbans. We strongly condemn this. The deportees were not criminals. “They were suffering and needed to be consoled,” he said. “We demand External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take up the issue with his US counterpart keeping in mind Sikh sentiments,” he added. Former SGPC general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal also condemned the incident. ‘PM should have spoken to Trump during his US visit’ “Why did our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a US visit, not register his protest with US President Donald Trump when the deported Sikhs were subjected to such inhumane treatment?” he asked.
Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and his Cabinet colleague Harbhajan Singh were at the airport to receive the deportees. During an interaction, the deported Sikhs told Dhaliwal that the US officials asked them to remove their turbans and handcuffed them. A source said the deportees told the minister that their handcuffs were removed minutes before the plane landed. SGPC employee Sandeep Singh said they are ready to help the refugees as another flight carrying migrants is scheduled to land at the airport on Sunday night. He said the SGPC has arranged for langar and accommodation for the refugees at the Sarais (inns) in the Golden Temple complex. “If necessary, we will also provide them transport facilities to go back home,” he said.
