Govt Admits Mistake, Apologises To Afghan MP Rangina Kargar for ‘Deportation’

Afghan woman MP Rangina Kargar

Photo: Facebook/ Rangina Kargar

The Government of India on Thursday, 26 August, "apologised" to Afghan woman MP Rangina Kargar for her purported deportation from the Delhi airport and asked her to apply for an emergency visa.

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, after attending an all-party briefing, headed by External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, on the situation in Afghanistan, said that the government "made a mistake" and the matter will be looked into.

"We raised the issue of a woman (Afghan) diplomat who was deported. They said that they made a mistake. It won't be repeated and they will look into the matter."

Mallikarjun Kharge

Before the meeting, Congress MP Manish Tewari said in a tweet, “When we need to be seen standing with the women of Afghanistan we seem to be standing against them. SAD.”

The Incident

Kargar, a woman member of the Afghan Parliament had alleged that she was deported from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on 20 August, The Indian Express reported.

Kargar holds a diplomatic passport and had arrived at the IGI early on 20 August from Istanbul on a Fly Dubai flight.

Speaking to The Indian Express, the former parliamentarian said that in the past, she had travelled several times to India using the same passport. However, this time, the immigration officials, she said, had asked her to wait as they had to consult higher officials.

"They deported me. I was treated as a criminal. I was not given my passport in Dubai. It was returned to me only in Istanbul," the news organisation quoted Kargar as saying.

JP Singh spoke to Kargar on Thursday, apologising for the deportation and asked her to apply for an emergency visa.

“JP Singh (Joint Secretary in-charge of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in the MEA) spoke to me. He apologised for what had happened and asked me to apply for an e-emergency visa. I asked him if the official passport is no longer valid, but he did not answer. I told him I had tried for an e-visa for my daughter on (August) 19 but there was no response to the application.”

Afghan woman MP Rangina Kargar, as quoted by The Indian Express.

'Have to Work Together'

Further, speaking of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan and the ongoing evacuation of Indians from the region, Kharge stressed that the whole country has to face this challenge together.

"This is the entire country's problem. We have to work together for the interests of the people and nation. They told us to wait and watch. All parties have taken the same view," he stated.

The Taliban took over Afghanistan on 15 August after an astonishingly swift offensive, as President Ashraf Ghani fled the crisis-ridden nation.

After the Taliban's takeover, chaos emerged at the Kabul airport as countries scrambled to evacuate their citizens as well as Afghans working with them.

Visuals of panicked and desperate Afghan citizens attempting to flee the Taliban rule have inundated the internet since.

(With inputs from ANI and The Indian Express)