New Delhi: Trinamool Congress lawmaker Sagarika Ghose on Friday moved a privilege motion against external affairs minister S Jaishankar for allegedly providing “misleading and incomplete” information regarding the deportation of Indians from the United States.
“The foreign minister clearly told us on February 6 on the floor of the House that he would take up with the US authorities the issue of shackling of immigrants and their mistreatment, and that it would not happen again. But on February 15, we saw another flight arrive with Indians still shackled. This is misleading the House, and no official statement has been issued yet on whether India has taken up the issue with the US,” Ghose said.
Ghose referred to a statement made by Jaishankar in the Rajya Sabha on February 6, which said, “We are, of course, engaging the US government to ensure that the returning deportees are not mistreated in any manner during the flight.” However, Ghose said that nine days later, a second batch of 116 deportees arrived on February 16, still shackled.
“These deportees have provided disturbing testimonies of mistreatment, which contradict the assurances given by the Minister in the House,” Ghose said in her letter to Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar. She cited an incident in which an individual was forced to “remove his turban, which was then thrown into a dustbin,” calling it a “deeply offensive act against Sikh religious sentiments and rights.” She also said that deportees were subjected to torture and provided inadequate food, some of which was “half-cooked.”
{{/usCountry}}“These deportees have provided disturbing testimonies of mistreatment, which contradict the assurances given by the Minister in the House,” Ghose said in her letter to Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar. She cited an incident in which an individual was forced to “remove his turban, which was then thrown into a dustbin,” calling it a “deeply offensive act against Sikh religious sentiments and rights.” She also said that deportees were subjected to torture and provided inadequate food, some of which was “half-cooked.”
{{/usCountry}}Ghose said that the testimonies from the February 16 deportees suggested a worsening of their treatment, with extended periods of restraint, confiscation of religious symbols, and lack of proper food. She requested that the matter be referred to the Committee of Privileges.
In her letter to Dhankhar, Ghose said there was a gap between Jaishankar’s statement and the deportees’ firsthand accounts.