Unrest In Bangladesh Evokes Safety Concerns Among Kashmiri Students

A Kashmiri student who is pursuing MBBS in Bangladesh, Jibran Ali, remains worried about his safety after violence engulfed the country following the death of a student leader, and is uncertain about the timely completion of his medical studies in April next year.

His family members have asked him to return to his home in Srinagar’s Hawal area in view of the unrest, but due to his current preparatory tests for the final examination in April for completion of the medical degree, he has decided to stay back.

After the violence, he feels that the situation may get worse in the country when the elections are held in the month of February next year. The country is set to hold the parliamentary elections on February 12 for the first time after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was deposed in last year’s student-led uprising. Hasina has been sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh after she was found guilty of using lethal force against protesters, leading to the death of 1,400 people in July last year.

“Local Bangladeshis and the teachers are saying that the situation may worsen here when the elections are held in the month of February. My parents are advising me not to venture out of the hostel, but as our accommodation is a few kilometers away from the medical college campus, I have to travel for studies.  The situation may take a worse turn in Bangladesh, and no one can predict how things will unfold,” says Jibran. “Right now the situation is dreadful and there is a fear among the students, particularly the girls, about whether we are safe in the country,” he adds.

Kashmiri students studying in Bangladesh remain wary about their safety after some incidents of violence outside their medical institutions. Zakir Shozib Ali, a Kashmiri student pursuing MBBS in Bangladesh, says that the situation was “politically tense here.”

“One person was assassinated near our college, and the situation was tense, but life has limped back to normalcy in the main city of Dhaka. There are some pockets in the country which were worst hit, and students need to avoid those places,” he says.

Nearly four to five thousand Kashmiri students are studying in different courses in Bangladesh, with most of them pursuing medical degrees in the country. Apart from Iran, Bangladesh remains one of the favourite places for students from Kashmir to pursue MBBS degrees due to the relatively cheaper cost that is incurred towards studies.

Jammu Kashmir vice president of All India Medical Students’ Association (AIMSA), Dr Momin Khan, says that there was a concern among the Indian students in general, particularly Hindus, due to the communal situation that has emerged in Bangladesh. He notes that some of the Hindu students reached out to AIMSA seeking their urgent evacuation from the country.  “We have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking that the government should assess the situation in Bangladesh, which has unfolded there in view of incidents of communal violence and reports of looting and arson. We have urged the government to ensure the safety of the students by either relocating them to safer places in the country or evacuating them to India,” he adds.

Kashmiri students say that in view of the violence near their campuses, particularly in the areas of Khulna and Mymensingh, their families back home have grown worried over their safety. Violence broke out after the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, leader of the youth movement that forced Sheikh Hasina out of power, by masked assailants as he was leaving a mosque in Dhaka. During the violence, a Hindu youth was beaten to death, and his body was later set ablaze in  Mymensingh district over allegations of blasphemy.

“The situation is normal in Dhaka but there have been videos of violence outside some colleges in Khulna and  Mymensingh and MEA needs to assess the situation to ensure the safety of the students and take a call on whether the evacuations are needed from the worst affected areas,” says Ubair Fayaz, a resident of South Kashmir’s Kulgam, who is pursuing MBBS  in Dhaka.

Dr Apurv Dalvi, representative of the foreign medical students’ wing of AIMSA, says that the concerns about the safety have heightened among the students after the suspension of visa services by the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

“Students have their visas valid during the term of the study through the entire year, and we have sought safety of students should be ensured,” he says.

Former minister and People's Conference leader Imran Ansari has said that he has received distress calls from families expressing their worries about the safety of their children pursuing education in Bangladesh. In a social media post, he urged the MEA to undertake evacuation measures similar to those that were launched during the unrest in Iran after Israel attacked the country earlier this year.

“I am receiving continuous distress calls from friends, classmates and families of students from J&K who are currently stranded in Bangladesh due to the prevailing crisis. The uncertainty on the ground has caused anxiety among the students, while their parents back home are living in constant worry about their safety. During the recent crisis in Iran, the Government of India carried out an exceptional and timely evacuation, reinforcing the faith of ordinary citizens in the Ministry of External Affairs. With the same trust, the people of Kashmir look towards the Union Government for a similar compassionate intervention for our stranded students,” he said in a post on X.

Jibran says that while there were no incidents of direct attacks on the Indian students, they feared the violence could spread in the country ahead of the polls.  “A few kilometers away from where our hostel lies, there have been some incidents of violence.  Last year, when Bangladesh was in turmoil at the time of the deposition of Sheikh Hasina, I had to evacuate to my home and returned only one and a half months later. There are fears that there could be attacks on the Indian students and we may have to evacuate again,” he says.

Ubair recalls that at the time of Hasina’s ouster, the situation was worse than it is now, with the internet and mobile services also remaining suspended for some time.