The US military plane carrying the first batch of 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed at Amritsar Airport on Wednesday afternoon. Out of 104 illegal immigrants, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, and 30 deportees were residents of Punjab. The US military C-17 aircraft landed at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport amid tight security. The deportees include 25 women and 12 minors, with the youngest passenger being just four years old. Forty-eight people are below the age of 25. The flight, which took off from Texas on Tuesday, also carried 11 crew members and 45 US officials overseeing the deportation process.
While the world's eyes are fixed on Trump's crackdown on illegal immigrants, a photo on Wednesday went viral that showcased Indians sitting inside the plane in handcuffs. Not only this but the passengers were also seen chained inside the US plane. The picture was shared pro-Congress political activist Dhivya Marunthiah with the caption, "Indians handcuffed & chained while deporting from US? Too much AmritKaal?"
Responding to it, Congress leader Pawan Khera wrote, "Looking at the pictures of Indians getting handcuffed and humiliated while being deported from the US saddens me as an Indian. I remember in December of 2013, an Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was handcuffed and strip searched in America. Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh registered a strong protest with US Ambassador Nancy Powell. The UPA govt retaliated sharply. Leaders like Ms Meira Kumar, Sushil Kumar Shinde & Rahul Gandhi refused to meet the US Congressional delegation (George Holding, Pete Olson, David Schweikert, Rob Woodalland Madeleine Bordallo) that was visiting India at that time...Dr Manmohan Singh termed the US action ‘deplorable’.."
(PC: X)
Truth behind viral Indian deportees handcuff photo
After the picture went viral on X and netizens started to slam the Government of India over the mistreatment of Indians in the US plane, the Centre fact-checked the viral pic. The Central Government on PIB Fact Check labeled the viral image shared by Dhivya Marunthiah as fake.
"#Fake image is being shared on social media by many accounts with a claim that illegal Indian migrants have been handcuffed and their legs chained while being deported by US #PIBFactCheck.. The image being shared in these posts does not pertain to Indians. Instead it shows those deported to Guatemala," reads PIB Fact Check Facebook post.