Did US deport Sikhs without turbans, women in shackles? India raises concern, America clarifies

Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre formally raised concerns with the United States over allegations of mistreatment of Indian nationals deported from the US in February 2025, particularly the reports on ‘religious sensitivities and food preferences’, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, March 27.

In a statement, Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh informed that while it strongly objected to the reports that Sikh deportees were asked to remove their turbans while women and children were put in shackles while being deported to India, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has denied all allegations, stating no deportee from India was asked to remove religious head coverings and no woman or child detainee were restrained.

The minister said, “The Ministry has strongly registered its concerns with the US authorities on the treatment meted out to deportees on the flight that landed on February 5th, particularly with respect to the use of shackles, especially on women. The US side has confirmed that no women or children were restrained on the deportation flights that landed in India on February 15th and 16th respectively.”

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"In response, the US authorities have conveyed that deportees on the three chartered flights that arrived on 5th, 15th& 16th February 2025 respectively were not instructed to remove any religious head coverings and that the deportees did not request any religious accommodation during the flights, aside from requesting for vegetarian meals,” Kirti Vardhan Singh said.

Many detainees reach US border ‘without turbans’

The US has also clarified that some detainees had already arrived at the US border “without turbans,” the government further said in its statement.

“The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also conveyed that some of the detainees arrived at the US border without turbans," the statement read.

As Donald Trump launched a crackdown on the illegal immigrants, detaining and deporting them to their home countries, several images surfaced on social media showing the deportees in chains and shackles.

Davinder Singh, one of the deportees, who landed in Amritsar on a US military C-17 aircraft on Saturday, February 15, said that he saw US officials throwing turbans into the dustbin. “It was very painful watching turbans being thrown into a dustbin,” Davinder Singh told PTI.

There have been several reports claiming that Sikh deportees were not allowed to wear their turbans and some were restricted in chains and shackles.

At least three US aircraft with illegal Indian immigrants landed in India after Donald Trump took over as the US president.