India offers Emergency Visa to deported Afghan MP, calls deportation a mistake

New Delhi: The Union Government on Thursday admitted that the deportation of a woman member of the Afghan parliament from Indira Gandhi International Airport was an unintentional mistake, as per a report by The Indian Express (TIE). The government also reached out to the woman, Rangina Kargar, apologised for the unfortunate incident and asked her to apply for an emergency visa.

According to an early TIE report on Thursday, Kargar had arrived at IGI airport on August 20 from Istanbul. She had a diplomatic/official passport in possession, which facilitate visa-free travel under a reciprocal arrangement with India, but was sent her back after 16 hours of waiting in the airport. Kargar had a doctors appointment in Delhi and had a return ticket booked to Istanbul on August 22.

After the TIE report, the issue was raised in an all-party meeting by Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Anand Sharma and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. They asked why such a measure was taken against a veteran Afghan politician who travels to India frequently. Congress MP Manesh Tiwari tweeted why Kargar was deported though she had valid travel documents. He added that when India is supposed to be standing with Afghan women, it appears the opposite is happening.

The government replied that the mistake was happened out of 'panic' since there were reports that some passports with Indian visas had been taken away by the Taliban. The government told questioners that they regret the incident and it will not happen in the future.

Kargar later told The Indian Express that the representative of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, JP Singh, spoke to her and apologised. She added that she asked him whether her official passport is valid, but he didn't reply. Also, she told him she had applied for an e-visa for her daughter on August 19, but there was zero response to her application, she said.