AMRITSAR/JALANDHAR: Leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa criticised Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann and the state’s AAP-led govt even as a US aircraft carrying Indian deportees was to land in Amritsar on Saturday, accusing Mann of failing to curb the human trafficking of Punjabis in the last three years
The Congress politician said Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act, 2012, regulated the profession of travel agents to check and curb illegal and fraudulent activities and malpractices of travel agents and others involved in human trafficking in Punjab. “Can Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the home portfolio, let Punjabis know how many travel agents were booked under the same law in the last three years,” he asked.
Mann, meanwhile, promised that the state govt would first investigate why the deportees had gone abroad, which agents deceived them, and how much money they had lost, so that efforts could be made to recover the money. He also said 10 FIRs had been registered against the travel agents in earlier cases and investigation had begun.
Touching upon the returnees’ rehabilitation, he said govt will provide them opportunities based on their skills – whether it’s helping them open a restaurant if they worked in one, or offering employment if they clear a competency exam. He reiterated that Centre was determined to transform the holy city – home to the Golden Temple, Durgiana Temple, Ram Teerath, and Jallianwala Bagh, along with its rich textile heritage – into a “deporation centre”.
Expressing sympathy for Indians being deported from the US, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee offered to provide them transportation from the airport to their homes. In a statement issued ahead of the arrival of another plane from the US on Saturday, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the committee was ready to also arrange accommodation for the deportees. “Those in need can approach the SGPC staff stationed at the airport for assistance,” said Dhami.
He also expressed concern over the “inhumane treatment” of the deportees, asking why they were being treated in such a manner. BJP national secretary and now Delhi MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa too attacked Mann, alleging that travel agents in Punjab had looted these deportees while Mann’s govt and Punjab police kept on taking money from the unscrupulous travel agents. “Otherwise, how could such travel agents have a thriving business in Punjab,” he asked.
Punjab BJP also posted on its social media accounts asking Mann if Punjab’s reputation was not tarnished “when there were explosions in Punjab, homes were being destroyed daily by drugs, gangsters were demanding ransoms, unemployed teachers were being beaten, and Punjab was drowning in debt.” The party unit reminded him of his promise of building a system where children would return from abroad, and even foreigners would seek jobs here, but no policy for this had been implemented in three years of his govt.
Punjabi netizens, meanwhile, criticised Punjab CM for not speaking up and raising questions when the first plane carrying deportees landed at Amritsar even though it carried more deportees from Gujarat and Haryana than from Punjab.