Narendra Modi’s government has formally raised concerns with the United States regarding allegations of mistreatment of Indian nationals deported from the US in February 2025. The government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, March 27, that it had particularly objected to reports related to “religious sensitivities and food preferences.”
In a statement, Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh emphasised that India strongly opposed claims that Sikh deportees were forced to remove their turbans and that women and children were placed in shackles while being deported. However, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has denied these allegations, asserting that no Indian deportee was required to remove religious head coverings and that no woman or child detainee was restrained.
“The Ministry has strongly registered its concerns with the US authorities on the treatment meted out to deportees on the flight that landed on February 5th, particularly with respect to the use of shackles, especially on women. The US side has confirmed that no women or children were restrained on the deportation flights that landed in India on February 15th and 16th respectively,” the minister said.
Kirti Vardhan Singh added, “In response, the US authorities have conveyed that deportees on the three chartered flights that arrived on 5th, 15th & 16th February 2025 respectively were not instructed to remove any religious head coverings and that the deportees did not request any religious accommodation during the flights, aside from requesting for vegetarian meals.”
The Indian government also stated that the US had clarified that some detainees had already reached the US border “without turbans.”
“The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also conveyed that some of the detainees arrived at the US border without turbans,” the statement noted.
As Donald Trump intensified his crackdown on illegal immigrants, detaining and deporting them, images circulated on social media showing deportees in chains and shackles.
Davinder Singh, one of the deportees who landed in Amritsar on a US military C-17 aircraft on Saturday, February 15, recounted witnessing US officials disposing of turbans. “It was very painful watching turbans being thrown into a dustbin,” he told PTI.
Several reports have claimed that Sikh deportees were not permitted to wear their turbans and that some were restrained with chains and shackles.
Following Trump’s presidency, at least three US aircraft carrying illegal Indian immigrants have landed in India.