Lucknow, Feb 6 (PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Thursday strongly reacted to the recent deportation of 104 illegal immigrants from the United States.

The individuals, who were reportedly sent back, arrived on a US military aircraft on Wednesday, marking the first such deportation batch under the Donald Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration.

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Among those deported, 33 were from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three from Maharashtra and two from Chandigarh. The group also included 19 women and 13 minors, including a four-year-old boy and two girls aged five and seven.

Yadav took to social media platform X on Thursday to voice his concerns over the incident. In his post, he questioned the Indian government and its handling of the situation. He asked why the country's leadership had remained silent over the incident, referring to the humiliating conditions under which these immigrants were deported.

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"The question is not only that America has bound Indians like slaves in chains due to circumstances and sent them to India in inhuman conditions. The question is also why have those who claim to be Vishwa Guru become silent?

"What is our foreign ministry doing? What has the government done to protect women and children from such humiliating conditions?" he asked.

The SP chief also highlighted the prime minister's upcoming visit to the US, asking whether this issue would be raised during the visit. He further questioned why such situations were occurring that forced Indians to seek work abroad in the first place and what the government's stance would be towards those returning to India under these circumstances.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister criticised the BJP and ended the post stating, "NRIs of today say, 'we don't want BJP'!"

BSP chief Mayawati also reacted to the news, expressing concern over the incident, which she described as an affront to India's national pride. On X, she wrote, "The case of 104 Indians, including women and children from Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, etc., being sent back inhumanly by the US in military aircraft, handcuffed, is extremely sad and a matter of great concern."

Mayawati criticised the central government's response to the incident, calling it a "whitewash". She described the conditions in which the deportees were sent back as "worse than prisoners" and emphasised that the government's statement in Parliament was insufficient, given the gravity of the situation.

The former UP chief minister further urged the Indian government to take the matter seriously, warning that similar deportations could take place under the US administration's 'Make America Great Again (MAGA)' policy.

"The Government of India needs to be alert so that other Indian families do not have to face such pain and the country does not face such disrespect in the future," she added in the post.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)