Watch: Indian students safe in Kyrgyzstan, asserts Telugu student coordinator
With tension escalating after the videos of the clashes going viral on social media, law enforcement authorities moved in and began guarding the places where Indian students were living.
Hyderabad: Amidst reports of escalating tension and attacks on foreigners in Kyrgyzstan‘s capital city Bishkek, scores of Indian students living in private accommodations were shifted to hostels run by Indian consultancies. “All the Indian students are safe and none of them is harmed. Parents of students need not worry about the safety of their children” Ramakrishna, coordinator of Indian students at Kyrgyz State Medical Academy told Telangana Today over phone from Bishkek on Saturday.
Students whom this reporter contacted maintained that after a brawl between local students and Bangladeshis and Egptians, the local students began targetting the foreign students. “Initially, they attacked all foreign students as they believed that Kyrgyz authorities were lenient towards foreigners”, they said on the condition of anonymity. However, later the local students began enquiring about the nationality of the students and by and large did not target the Indians. There are over 2000 students from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh purusing their medical courses.
With tension escalating after the videos of the clashes going viral on social media, law enforcement authorities moved in and began guarding the places where Indian students were living, Ramakrishna said. He pointed out that those who were unable to move to these hostels, were being provided with groceries and essential items to ensure that they don’t need to get out of the buildings till the situation was brought under control.
While the management of medical universities maintained that no Indians were harmed, some students claimed that their peers were attacked but only sustained minor injuries.
“The fight was between the locals and some Pakistanis and Egyptians. We are doing everything to ensure the safety of our students. We have police protection near our hostels and the locals are also supporting us,” said Ramakrishna. He had also released a video statement assuring the parents about the safety of the students from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Currently, around 15,000 Indian students are pursuing MBBS degrees in Kyrgyzstan including 2,000 from Telugu states.
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