‘Should have avoided’: Union minister Ramdas Athawale on US handcuffing Indian deportees

Union minister Ramdas Athawale said it was wrong to send the illegal Indian immigrants from the US in shackles.

Union minister Ramdas Athawale has said it was wrong to deport illegal immigrants from America to India in shackles and the US government should have avoided such a treatment.

Union minister Ramdas Athawale said the treatment issue of the Indian deportees will be discussed next week during PM Modi's visit to the US.(PTI/File Image)

The Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment made the comments on Saturday during a press conference, where he also shared details of the Union Budget and said the country is on the path of development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On the treatment of undocumented immigrants who were deported from the US to India earlier this week, Athawale said it was wrong to send them in shackles. A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on February 5.

It was the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants. Some of the deportees claimed their hands and legs were cuffed throughout the journey and they were unshackled only after landing in Amritsar.

“The US government should have avoided such treatment,” Athawale, who heads the Republican Party Of India (A), said adding the issue would be discussed during the PM’s visit to the US next week.

India on Friday said it has registered concerns with the US over the deportation of illegal immigrants in shackles and conveyed that this kind of treatment could have been avoided. Athawale said under the leadership of PM Modi, the country is moving on the path of development and the target is to make it a developed nation by 2047.

More than ₹6 lakh crore has been allocated to the defence sector and ₹2.52 lakh crore for the Railways in this year’s General Budget, he said. Under the Special Component Plan of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, ₹1.68 lakh crore has been earmarked in this year’s budget, the minister pointed out. The Centre has made income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free which has provided a huge relief to the common people, he added.