According to the district administration, 41 students have crossed the Ukraine borders and are staying temporarily in other Schengen countries (EU).
An official from the district administration said, “As per the ministry of external affairs, most of the students have crossed the Ukraine borders and many have reached India. Now, we are working to bring back 22 students who are still stuck or non-reachable in the war-torn country. For that purpose, we have appointed officials and instructed them to visit the houses of those students who have not arrived yet and provide emotional support to their families. Officials have also educated the families about the evacuation procedures of their children.”
They walked for 55 kms without food, water for 3 days
Among the students was Anjali from Rahon Road who would reach India on Thursday. Another student, Tanushree, 21, of Maha Singh NagarDaba Road, who has been pursuing MBBS 3rd year from National Medical University, Ternopil, said, “I reached Ludhiana on Wednesday evening. Both my legs have swollen and have suffered displacement.”
Tanushree said, “I left on February 25 by booking a bus and reached the Medyka-Shehyni border at 2 pm. The driver dropped us 40km ahead of first checkpoint and we had cover the distance on foot. We tried seeking help from locals, but they all were scared to help us. Soldiers made us sit at the first checkpoint and threatened us. It seemed like we were held hostage. They shot at students who tried to record videos and made us delete the same. We were forced to sit without food, water in cold weather conditions.”
“Two days later, they dropped us at the second checkpoint where we walked for 5 kms to the exit point. Girls were given priority over boys and we exited through Poland,” she said.
Protest held by Indian Doctors for Peace and Development
Meanwhile, the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) held a protest demonstration from Near Bharat Nagar Chowk to Mini Secretariat in which various speakers expressed anguish at that Indian government for delay in the evacuation process. They expressed grief on the death of Indian student Naveen Shekharappa in Ukraine during shelling by Russian army. Still thousands of students are stranded in Ukraine who need to be evacuated immediately, the IDPD said.
Dr Arun Mitra, president of IDPD, said, “India has the experience of evacuating 1.7 lakh Indians from gulf during the gulf war. But this exercise required seriousness and determination. It is unfortunate that instead of taking the evacuation process seriously, our ministers are busy in public relation exercises and show off. Our foreign minister should go to Russia in the spirit of non-aligned movement and appeal to the Russian government to help in evacuation of Indians stranded in Ukraine.”