Why did the US military plane carrying 104 Indians living illegally in the US land in Amritsar? This is a big question and along with it, there are some other important questions, like why did the US administration treat the Indians like prisoners of war? Why were they handcuffed and shackled? Why were they sent in a military plane at a high cost? The biggest question is why did the Trump administration humiliate India by releasing a video of them being brought on board the plane with their heads bowed while in handcuffs and shackles? Another question is why is the Indian government silent on this?
This question is because the Trump administration had also sent illegal immigrants from Mexico and Colombia on the plane, but both countries did not allow the US plane to land in their countries. At present, it seems that the plane carrying 104 Indians was landed in Amritsar with a specific purpose. There were 93 people from Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana on that plane, the remaining 11 were from three other states. Therefore, the plane should have landed in Delhi, but the plane was landed in Amritsar as part of a conspiracy to defame Punjab so that the message would be sent to the country that the largest number of people from Punjab are living in America illegally. The fact is that today, the largest number of people from Gujarat are trying to enter America illegally. If the plane had landed in Delhi, then the ‘narrative’ of Gujarat could have been created. To change that, the plane was landed in Amritsar.
Punjab Water Resources Minister Birender Goyal said that the primary responsibility lies with the central government, otherwise Modi Sahib is hugged and calls Trump a friend. One could have talked to a friend. He said that why did the plane with deported Indians land in Punjab (Amritsar)? These people want to prove that only people from Punjab go out. That is why they have landed this plane in Punjab.
It remains to be seen whether the police and other agencies will actually bring any effective results during the crackdown on several travel agents in Punjab and Haryana or whether this will remain a formality. In 2014, the ‘Punjab Travel Professionals Regulation Act’ was enacted to control the activities of such travel agents and to regulate the work of agents who do this work properly. According to this law, it was made mandatory to register with the government to work as travel agents. A provision was also made for seven years in prison and a fine of five lakh rupees for agents who violate this law, i.e., those who mislead the youth and send them abroad by using two methods. But despite this, there has been no significant reduction in the activities of agents who send young people abroad illegally. The network of human trafficking has spread widely and many types of people are involved in it, it will require decisive action to break it. Keeping this situation in mind, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) including senior police officers, which will investigate the role of travel agents in the current developments and take action against them.
The governments which are now saying that they are against illegal migration are actually running away from their responsibility because despite making strict laws throughout the country, no effective action has been taken against such human traffickers till now, nor have they arranged employment opportunities. Sometimes these human traffickers extort huge sums of money by promising to help people migrate through legal or legitimate means, but then push them on the ‘donkey route’, which has links with many countries and their networks. Even after the famous Malta incident, there are frequent reports of young people who illegally go abroad drowning, being caught while wandering in the forests and dying and languishing in foreign jails for years.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh has informed the Lok Sabha that at present, more than 10,000 Indians are detained in jails of 86 countries, who had gone abroad illegally. The countries in which these Indians are detained include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Nepal, Pakistan, America, Sri Lanka, Spain, Russia, Israel, China, Bangladesh and Argentina.
What is the reason why people want to leave the country by putting lakhs of crores of rupees in the laps of fake travel agents? After all, who would want to leave a fertile land like Punjab and leave? This is a sign of policy failure and our poor education and unemployment. People’s trust cannot be built with a few symbolic arrests. The police first need to register FIRs of the victims and immediately take action to recover the money from the fraudsters in a transparent and binding manner. Along with this, the central government should ask the governments of the concerned countries to take up the matter with the governments of the concerned countries to reach out to the foreign gangs of human trafficking. Governments should create employment opportunities for their youth, so that they can live a dignified life in India.
