Top Sikh body condemns US authorities for 'not allowing' Sikh deportees to wear turban
World | SGPC plans to address this issue with the Trump administration, emphasising the significance of the turban as an integral part of Sikh identity and religious expression.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the top body of Sikhs, condemned US authorities after the third batch of Indian immigrants arrived in northern Amritsar city after being deported on Sunday (Feb 16) night. The SGPC alleged that the US officials did not allow some Sikh deportees to wear their turbans.
The third batch of deportees included 65 from Punjab, 33 from Haryana and eight from Gujarat.
As quoted by the news agency PTI, SGPC general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal said, "Turban is the part of a Sikh."
He also said that they will raise the issue with Donald Trump administration officials.
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Videos and images shared by official channels and also on social media showed Sikh deportees without their turbans when they were seen completing their immigration formalities at the Indian airport.
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SGPC officials were deputed to provide food and bus service for deportees on Saturday night at the airport.
They also gave 'dastar' (turban) to Sikh deportees.
"During his meeting with US President Donald Trump, PM Narendra Modi should have raised such concerns. If the Indian government doesn’t, the SGPC will take up the issue with the US government," Grewal said as quoted.
Local media quoted family members of the deportees as saying that they spent millions of rupees, equivalent to tens of thousands of dollars, to reach the US through illegal routes in search of employment opportunities.
Immigrant crisis in US
According to Indian government data, more than 15,000 Indians have been sent back from the US in the last 16 years, with a record number during Trump's last presidency.
The Trump administration again started deporting unauthorised migrants after Trump returned to power for the second term. The US has deported hundreds of Indian immigrants in the past few weeks.
Modi during his recent visit to the US vowed to keep cooperating, saying that undocumented Indians are being lured by human traffickers.
"Any verified Indian who is in the US illegally, we are fully prepared to take them back to India," Modi said during a joint press conference with Trump.
(With inputs from agencies)