AMRITSAR: Two more planeloads of Indians deported from the US are scheduled to land in Amritsar over the weekend, with the first of these flights expected around 10am Saturday with 119 illegal immigrants.
The impending sorties, just over 10 days after a US military C-17 Globemaster aircraft brought back 104 deportees, led CM Bhagwant Mann to slam Centre for allegedly trying to “defame Punjab and Punjabis” by turning holy city of Amritsar into what he termed “a deportation centre”.
Sources said 67 of 119 passengers on the second deportation flight were from Punjab, while Haryana accounted for second-largest group with 33. Rest of deportees are from Gujarat (8), UP (3), Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan (2 each), and Himachal and J&K (1 each).
There was no official confirmation of the break-up and the arrival time of the third US aircraft until late Friday.
When the first flight from US landed on February 5, Congress & AAP questioned why Amritsar was picked as the destination.
Mann said despite his criticism of the move, he would welcome deportees, take them to Golden Temple langar and do everything possible to rehabilitate them. “This is a deliberate attempt to send out the message that only Punjabis travel illegally,” he alleged, saying foreign ministry should “divert the aircraft to Delhi or Ahmedabad. Punjab govt will bring back Punjabis with honour. But we maintain that illegal immigration is not just Punjab’s problem, but a national one.”