Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday criticised the Narendra Modi-led government for its failure to ensure the dignity of Indian illegal immigrants who were deported from the US, saying if the Centre had sent flights to bring them back, they would not have been handcuffed and chained.

“I can ask questions that those who were deported were sent (with) hands cuffed and chained…. Why? What answers do you have?” the chief minister asked during her speech at the Assembly.

Mamata condemned the deportation process by terming it shameful and inhumane in the wake of reports that the deportees were forced to travel in the US Air Force plane, G-17 Globemater III, with hands cuffed and legs chained.

She also asked if the Prime Minister had raised his voice against such an
inhumane process.

“You are saying that this is the norm followed by them (the US). Honourable Prime Minister, I respectfully want to say that you were there (in the US) when they were deported in the same manner. Protocols cannot be different for different countries. But did you ever protest against this?” Mamata asked.

“None of them (the deportees) was from Bengal. They were from Gujarat, Maharastra and Punjab,” Mamata added, implying she was raising the issue as an Indian for Indians.

She said the deportees could have been brought back in a more dignified manner had the Centre taken some initiatives.

“You could have said that if there were any illegal immigrants, you would bring them back. You could have said that you would send flights to bring them back. If this was done, they (the deportees) would not have faced such a situation,” Mamata said.

The chief minister said that if the Centre had decided to bring the deportees back by sending flights, they would not have been sent by hands cuffed and legs chained.

“They (the deportees) included women and children and no one was spared. None of you protested against the inhumane process,” she said.

Mamata’s comments assumed significance in the wake of a nationwide controversy on the way the illegal immigrants from India were sent back in two US Air
Force flights.

A bureaucrat said that the BJP-led Centre was facing questions as to why it did not take up the issue with the US authorities after the first flight landed with 104 deportees on February 5 as a part of the Donald Trump administration’s crackdown against illegal immigrants.

“Now, the chief minister is trying to catch the Narendra Modi government on the wrong foot on the issue as it doesn’t have a suitable answer on the issue,” said a bureaucrat.

BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition, stood by the
Modi government, saying there should not be any illegal immigrants in any country. “The Indian Air Force should lift the Rohingyas, who are staying in India illegally, and drop them in Bangladesh,” Adhikari said.