Ishtiyaq Kar
ahmad.ishtiyaq973@gmail.com
Srinagar, April 14 (KINS): Even after a month of ongoing evacuation efforts, the pain and anxiety are far from over for some families in Kashmir.
While thousands of Indians have managed to return home safely from Iran, around 15 Kashmiri students, mostly female, are still stranded, waiting “helplessly for a way out”.
The evacuation process began following the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran several weeks ago, which prompted the Indian government to issue an advisory asking its citizens in Iran to leave the country.
Since then, the government and the Indian Embassy have been working continuously to relocate citizens first to safer places and then ensure their safe evacuation.
However these students, mostly pursuing MBBS, have been living in uncertainty for weeks. According to them the main issue holding them back is the delay in receiving “exit codes” from authorities—documents they urgently need to leave the country.
One of the stranded students shared, “if the exit codes had been issued on time, we would have already crossed into Azerbaijan and been on a flight home”.
Hina Shah, whose relative is among those stuck, told KINS that things were moving smoothly at first. “Around 30 students returned home just last week, and another group of 10 got their permissions soon after. But these 15 students have been left behind, still waiting, still hoping, with no updates about when they can finally leave,” she said.
Back in Kashmir, parents are going through sleepless nights, constantly worried about their children’s safety.
Every phone call brings both relief and fear. Some parents have turned to social media platform X, desperately asking authorities to take action.
One parent wrote, ” kindly issue exit codes for leftover 15 students at Astara border in one go who are stranded there for the last one month and are under severe depression”
Another parent shared, ” 15 students are there in two hotels. parents are getting their distress calls, Plz HELP”
The families have made an appeal to India’s External Affairs Minister, requesting him to personally step in and resolve the situation. While they expressed gratitude for the government’s efforts in bringing many students back, they are pleading for urgent attention to those still left behind.
The concerned authorities could not be contacted. We will update their comments once we are able to reach them. (KINS)
