KINS Desk
Srinagar, March 29 (KINS): Thousands of Kashmiris stranded in various countries are living under constant fear and have appealed Union and J&K government to organise a rescue flight amid the ongoing travel ban enforced by India to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thousands of Kashmiri students in Ukraine, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and several other countries are stranded there because of travel ban in view of coronavirus.
In Kyrgyzstan, over 800 Kashmiris students are stranded.
A female student from Jalalabad University Kyrgyzstan said they were running out of money.
“We don’t know how to feed ourselves under these circumstances. Nobody is concerned about us,” she said, appealing Indian government to raise issue with the Kyrgyzstan.
A Kashmiri female student who is a pursuing medicine from Medical University at Osh in Kyrgyzstan said they have been left at the mercy of God.
“We have been under complete lockdown. But nobody is asking us about food or water. We feel unsafe here and are being treated unwell. Nobody is concerned about us,” she told this KINS reporter over phone.
She said they live under constant panic because of increasing number of coronavirus cases at Osh, as the city has been epicenter of coronavirus there. “Please take us out from here. We want to go home and be in quarantine there,” she said.
The students they have been vacated from university hostels.
“Our hostels have been turned into quarantine centers. We are putting up in private accommodation. We are running short of money. We don’t know how to feed ourselves,” they said.
In Ukraine, at least 200 Kashmiri students are stranded. Mohammad Aasif Tariq, who is studying medicine at Sumi State University in Ukraine said they have been lodged in a crowded hostel room.
“We are around 500 Indian students who have been lodged in large hostel. There are around 200 Kashmiri students studying in various universities of Ukraine. There is also scarce of medicines including sanitizers and masks. We should be evacuated to India as we fear of getting infected,” Tariq said.
Similarly, Kashmiri students have been stranded in Bangladesh due to the sealing of borders amid the 21-day lockdown announced to combat Covid-19.
“We were asked to vacate hostels by the college administration in Bangladesh, but were not allowed to go India,” one of the students said.
To stop the spread of Covid, a 21-day lockdown had been announced in the country, with all flights cancelled and borders with other countries sealed.
Similarly, 30 pilgrims who are stranded in Iran said none is coming to their rescue.
One of the stuck pilgrims said that they had arrived Iran to visit shrines and other religious places, but got stuck due to fast spread of coronavirus.(KINS)
