Over 6,700 Indian Students Return To India from Bangladesh: MEA

More than 6,700 Indian students have returned to India from Bangladesh, with the Indian government receiving significant cooperation from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reported on Thursday.

During a weekly media briefing, Jaiswal praised the efforts of the Indian High Commission, which has facilitated the safe travel of Indian nationals either to border crossings or airports. He expressed optimism that the situation in Bangladesh will stabilize soon.

“We’ve had over 6,700 Indian students return from Bangladesh. The cooperation from the Bangladeshi government has been excellent,” Jaiswal said. “Our High Commission has arranged for their safe and secure travel to border points or airports as needed. They have also established several helplines.”

Jaiswal noted that the High Commission and Assistant High Commissions are operating 24/7 helplines to assist students and nationals. “All those present in Bangladesh can reach out to these helplines for assistance,” he added.

Responding to questions about the situation in Bangladesh, Jaiswal emphasized that India is closely monitoring the developments but considers the unrest an internal matter for Bangladesh. “We are aware of the ongoing situation and are following the developments closely. With the support and cooperation of the Bangladeshi government, we have managed to facilitate the safe return of our students, which we greatly appreciate,” he said. “We hope the situation in Bangladesh returns to normal soon.”

The unrest in Bangladesh erupted in response to demands for reform of the quota system that reserves civil service jobs for specific groups, including descendants of 1971 war veterans. Protests intensified after the introduction of a new policy that allocated government jobs to descendants of freedom fighters, leading to violence, including attacks on state television headquarters and police stations in Dhaka. The government imposed a curfew, closed schools, and suspended mobile and internet services nationwide.

Following the protests, which resulted in over 100 fatalities, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court intervened. The court reduced the quota for relatives of war veterans from 30% to 5%, allocating 93% based on merit and reserving 2% for ethnic minorities, transgender individuals, and people with disabilities, as reported by Al Jazeera.

(With ANI Inputs)

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