Students living in US being repeatedly mistreated but PM Modi is silent: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday slammed the government after a video emerged showing an Indian student being handcuffed and pinned to the floor at a US airport, and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately talk to President Donald Trump to appeal for intervention on the "mistreatment" of Indians in America.

Congress leaders shared the video and pictures of an Indian student handcuffed and pinned to the floor at USA's Newark Airport before he was allegedly deported. The Consulate General of India in New York has said it is in touch with local authorities after the video surfaced online showing the young Indian man being handcuffed and allegedly being deported.

"We have come across social media posts claiming that an Indian national is facing difficulties at Newark Liberty International Airport. We are in touch with local authorities in this regard," the Indian Consulate said in a post on X. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Modi government is continuously failing to protect the honour of India and Indians.

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"For the first time in history, a foreign head of state has declared ceasefire between India and Pakistan in India's absence. US President Trump is continuously claiming to have ensured a ceasefire by pressuring India," Ramesh said in his post in Hindi on X. "For the past one year, Indian citizens and students living in America are being repeatedly mistreated but Prime Minister Modi is maintaining silence or it should be assumed that he is unable to muster the courage to speak," Ramesh said. He is the Prime Minister of India, it is his most important responsibility to protect the honour and respect of India and Indians, Ramesh asserted.

"We demand that Prime Minister Modi should immediately talk to President Trump and appeal for intervention on the mistreatment and atrocities being committed against Indians in America," he said. Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera tagged a post on X carrying the video, which was posted online by an Indian-American social entrepreneur Kunal Jain.

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The video shows the Indian man pinned to the ground by Port Authority Police and being handcuffed. "I witnessed a young Indian student being deported from Newark Airport last night -” handcuffed, crying, treated like a criminal. He came chasing dreams, not causing harm. As an NRI, I felt helpless and heartbroken. This is a human tragedy," Jain said in his post.

Tagging Jain's post, Khera said, "This is too painful, too humiliating and too distressing to watch. As a country, why should we tolerate this humiliation?" "From the days where we showed the muscle to the US during the Devyani Khobragade issue to now seeing our citizens being treated like animals, do we have no goodwill left in the world?" the Congress leader said.