A Punjab cabinet minister along with several deportees who arrived in Amritsar from the United States on Saturday night have alleged that some Sikh men on board the second US military aircraft were without their turbans. The Punjab administration had to make last-minute arrangements at the airport to address the issue.
“US officials removed turbans”
The second batch of 116 deportees arrived at Sri Guru Ramdas International Airport just before midnight. Among them was Yashpal Singh from Patti, who claimed he spent Rs 44 lakh to take the perilous “dunkey route” to the US. He recounted, “We were not wearing turbans when we landed at the airport. They had removed our turbans before the flight. The SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) provided us with a siropa, but these are meant for honouring individuals, not for tying on the head. So, I had to borrow a cap to cover my head.”
Same treatment with the third batch of deportees
Punjab Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, who remained at the airport until early Sunday morning, voiced his frustration over the issue. “Some youth on the first flight didn’t have their turbans either. We raised this issue after the first flight, and we will raise it again. But it is sad that despite so much hue and cry, nothing has changed. The third flight will likely be the same – with the youth in shackles and without turbans,” he stated.
Meanwhile, another US military aircraft transporting 112 Indian nationals arrived at Sri Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport in Amritsar late Sunday night. This marks the third such flight carrying deportees amid the Donald Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The plane touched down at approximately 10:03 PM. Among the deportees, 44 hail from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, 31 from Punjab, two from Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
