A military flight will deport 119 individuals, who were in the United States illegally and will reach Amritsar in India on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted the need to fight against the 'ecosystem' of human trafficking.
Earlier this month, a US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants from various states landed in Amritsar, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
Sources told PTI on Friday here that one military flight will be reaching Amritsar on February 15 with 119 people.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann hit out at the Centre, accusing it of trying to defame Punjab as part of a conspiracy.
Among the 119 people, 67 are from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
"The BJP-led Centre always discriminates against Punjab. It does not let go of any chance of defaming Punjab," alleged Mann, while addressing the media in Amritsar.
"As part of a conspiracy, they are trying to defame Punjab and Punjabis," he added.
The chief minister said he has already raised this issue with the Centre but hasn't received any positive response from them.
Asked if he was politicising the issue, Mann retorted, "Is this politicising, you tell me. We are political people and we have won on that basis (electoral politics), we are not an NGO. If caring about the honour of our youths and children is politics, then I will do it 24x7."
Mann said the first US plane carrying illegal Indian immigrants had 33 people from Haryana and Gujarat each and 30 from Punjab.
"Now the second plane is coming. It will also land at Amritsar airport tomorrow. Why? What is the criterion for choosing Amritsar? The centre and 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," said Mann.
He said deportation is a national problem, but it is being made to appear that only Punjabis migrate illegally.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi, during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, asserted the need to fight against the 'ecosystem' of human trafficking that lures people from ordinary families with big dreams and promises and are brought to other countries as illegal immigrants.
"This is not a question about India only but is a global issue," Modi said in response to a question by PTI on the issue of illegal immigration during the joint press conference with Trump in the White House.
He said, "We are of the opinion that anybody who enters and lives in another country illegally, they have absolutely no legal right or authority to live in that country."
Modi added that as far as India and the US are concerned, 'we have always said that those who are verified Indian citizens and who are living in the US illegally, India is prepared to take them back'.
Later, in response to a question by PTI on the deportation of illegal immigrants from the US and whether the issue of the manner in which they were brought back to India in the first military aircraft and shackled was raised during Modi's meeting with Trump, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said 'yes, it (issue of illegal immigration) did figure during the discussions today'.
Misri added that Modi did emphasise during the discussions that the return of illegal immigrants is not the end of the story.
"There is an ecosystem that thrives on this racket and that promotes and enables this racket, and it is the responsibility of both countries to do something about this," he added.
Modi also sought the cooperation of the US in finding out more details about these rackets, and if need be through institutional cooperation between the law enforcement authorities and intelligence organisations of the two countries to actually try and do something about these ecosystems that enable this particular phenomenon, Misri said.
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