India has raised concerns with the United States over reports that Sikh deportees were barred from wearing turbans during their flight back home. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded sharply after visuals surfaced of Sikh deportees without turbans while completing immigration formalities at Amritsar airport.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed on February 21 that India had taken up the issue with US authorities. “The flights that arrived on the 15th and 16th of February were a matter of concern for us, and we had shared our concerns with the US government. We emphasised that those being deported should be treated humanely and that their religious sensitivities should also be taken into account," Jaiswal said at a press briefing in New Delhi.
He further said that, based on their understanding, children and women on those flights were not subjected to any form of shackling.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) strongly condemned the reported treatment of Sikh deportees. SGPC officials at Amritsar airport, who had arranged ‘langar’ (community meals) and transportation for the returnees, also provided them with turbans upon arrival.
One deportee recalled that they had been asked to remove their turbans upon entering the US illegally and had not been allowed to wear them on the return flight. SGPC general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal criticized US authorities, calling it a “matter of regret” that Sikh deportees had arrived in shackles and without their turbans. “Turban is a part of a Sikh," he asserted, adding that the SGPC plans to formally raise the issue with US officials.
(With inputs from agencies)