 "'Stripped naked, turbans thrown in dustbin...mentally tortured': US deportees recall horror")
As a wave of consecutive flights lands at Amritsar airport carrying undocumented migrants from the United States, several deportees are alleging religious discrimination and mental torture by US authorities.
A US military aircraft landed at Sri Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport in Amritsar on Sunday with 112 deportees. This was the third such deportation flight.
Jatinder Singh was among the 112 illegal Indian immigrants deported from the US to Amritsar on Sunday.
‘Turban removed, thrown in dustbin’: Jatinder Singh
Jatinder shared his experience of spending two weeks in a detention camp. He said to India Today that he was mentally tortured and not given proper food. He also alleged that the US Army forced him to remove his turban (dastar) and then threw it in the dustbin.
He also alleged that he was kept in shackles for about 36 hours on the US military aircraft.
“I did not have proper food there at all. They only gave me Lay’s chips and Frooti juice two times a day,” he told India Today.
Similar stories of atrocities and mental torture were narrated by the deportees as well.
Stripped naked, mentally tortured
Jaswinder Singh, who was among the second batch of Indian nationals deported by the US, told The Indian Express that he was asked to remove all his clothes, including his sacred turban, and was mentally tortured in the detention centre.
Recounting the horror of the deportation, Jaswinder said to The Indian Express that when he and other Sikh youths requested their turbans back, the authorities refused, saying, “Who will be responsible if any of you hangs yourself?”
They were not allowed to wear a turban during their entire stay at the detention centre. It was only after reaching Amritsar airport that Jaswinder got his luggage back and used a parna [a cloth] to cover his head, India Today reported.
Jaswinder Singh is just 21 years old and hails from Pandori Arian village of Dharamkot in Moga district.
Deportees were handcuffed, chained
Opposition parties in India are protesting the alleged mistreatment of deportees during journey. According to news agency AP, the deportees were restrained with handcuffs and chains during the flight.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the government is engaging with US authorities to ensure deportees are treated humanely.
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