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No sympathy for deportees: Khattar
The minister, an MP from Karnal, was addressing a press conference here, days ahead of the voting for civic body elections, to be held on March 2.
In his first public comment in Haryana since the United States started deporting illegal migrants to India, Union power minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said that there should be no sympathy towards the deportees as they all went abroad illegally through the ‘dunki’ route.
The minister, an MP from Karnal, was addressing a press conference here, days ahead of the voting for civic body elections, to be held on March 2.
He spoke to reporters on a range of issues freely and when asked about his opinion on recent deportations by the US, he gave an example of his visit to a local village during the Lok Sabha elections last year.
“During my visit to villages, I usually ask people about the number of government jobs in their village. Some would say 30-40, others more than that, but on my visit to Dabri in Karnal, I was shocked to know that there was only one public servant in the whole village. I was told that over 300 villagers have settled abroad and mostly through ‘dunki’ route,” he said.
This route is very risky, Khattar said, adding that this is illegal and there is no surety if the person who goes abroad will be able to return or not have the country take action against them.
When asked about the deportees being handcuffed, the minister said, “There is a law in every country, and you can’t argue with that. Those who have entered a country illegally are criminals. Our people undertake these journeys despite being advised against it. There should be no sympathy towards them. Our people should not take this route. It is as bad as drug addiction. Why should we show sympathy towards them? Whichever way they have been sent back, it is now our worry as to how we are to rehabilitate them.”
The statement by Khattar comes at a time when over 300 Indian migrants have been deported by the US in three flights that landed in Amritsar on February 5, 15 and 16.
The numbers include nearly 110 from Haryana alone, mostly from the rice growing region including Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Kaithal.
There has been an uproar in various parts of the country over the deportation of immigrants in handcuffs during their 40-hour flight onboard a military aircraft. The matter had also reached the floor of the parliament, prompting the government to issue clarification.
With most of the deportees HT spoke since the first flight landed, it has come to light that the migrants paid travel agents amounts of ₹40 lakh to ₹70 lakh and highest being ₹1.20 crore paid by a Kurukshetra family of four including two minors, to settle in the US.
Since the deportation, the Haryana Police have lodged nearly 20 criminal cases in various districts against the travel agents and a few accused have also been arrested.
While many families are trying to settle the matter with their agents, according to some complaints, people were fooled by the agents who told them that they would reach the US within a month or two, while a few were also defrauded on the pretext of being settled through the legal route.
Infact, during his earlier statement on the deportation, while in Bhopal, Khattar had informed that the union government has registered objections over the deportation of illegal Indian immigrants in handcuffs and said that the government was in a process to resolve it through dialogue.
He had also pointed out that the US has deported the immigrants earlier too, but this time, the method used was objectionable.
