Indian students in Kyrgyzstan

In the wake of several attacks on students from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in Kyrgyzstan, a video posted by an Indian student hailing from Madhya Pradesh has sparked concern back home.

These attacks were catapulted after videos of a fight between Kyrgyz and Egyptian students surfaced online on May 13. Reports of local miscreants targeting Indian students were emerging from across the country.

As a precautionary measure, the local police administration has closed the colleges and universities and instructed the foreign students not to come out of their hostels.

Indian student in Kyrgyzstan pleads for help

Chetan Malviya, an MBBS aspirant currently residing in the country’s Bishkek city, has appealed to the central government for help.

Chetan, in his video, is sharing the harrowing conditions he and other Indian students are facing in the country.

He claimed that Indian and Pakistani students are now being treated like outsiders. And on the night of May 18, locals even reached their hostel.

In the video, Chetan says, “I came here to study MBBS. Here, citizens and students from both India and Pakistan are being treated like outsiders. We are isolated. We cannot leave the hostel. We have to come back home.”

Regarding the incident of May 18, he says, “On that day, the gate of our hostel was repeatedly knocked at night. This happened 4-5 times. Fortunately, we did not open the gate. There was a large crowd of locals outside.”

Chetan says that they want to leave the country. They have even booked tickets. But they are afraid to leave the hostel. They request that the government arrange for them to be dropped off at the airport; that’s their only demand.

Authorities in action over Indian students’ plight

Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav has notified that there are around 1,200 MBBS students from his state. However, he has claimed that all of them are safe.

The Indian Embassy in Kyrgyzstan urges students to stay indoors amid mob attacks.

The Indian Embassy in Kyrgyzstan, on May 18, urged Indian students to remain indoors following a series of mob attacks on foreign students.

The Embassy shared a message on its official X handle:

Following the advisory, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar retweeted the message, saying: “Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. The situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the Embassy.”

Moreover, Rajasthan chief minister Bhajanlal Sharma said on May 20 that his office is in touch with the Kyrgyzstan high commission for the safety and safe return of the state’s students there.

The violence that broke out in Kyrgyzstan recently left more than 500 students from Rajasthan who went there to study medicine scared.

Leaders of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have voiced concern over violent incidents targeting Indian students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

(Compiled from agency sources)