Dozens of Nepali students returned to Nepal from violence-hit Bangladesh on Sunday. At Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, the returnees shared their emotional experiences from Dhaka.
Sadiskhya Basnet had been in Bangladesh for just three months for her medical studies but had to return to Kathmandu due to the rising violence and communication blackout in Bangladesh.
“All communication is down there so information can’t get out. All communication means have been seized, and the situation is critical,” Basnet told ANI upon arriving at the airport on Sunday afternoon.
Basnet, a medical student at Inam Medical College, claimed that security personnel searched for students who participated in protests to detain them.
“Police came to our college at night looking for Bengali friends who protested during the day. We started to worry and couldn’t contact our families by phone. We managed to contact our families through a consultancy and arranged to come back to Nepal on our own,” Basnet explained further.
“A curfew was imposed, with no internet or communication means. We couldn’t leave the hostel and couldn’t remain disconnected from our families. How could we stay there?” she added.
Another medical student, Krishpa Rai, stood beside her father at the airport, relieved and happy to be back from the violence-hit areas.
“I feel safe being back,” Rai said. The communication blackout made the situation scarier because they couldn’t contact their families. “We were pretty scared because we couldn’t contact our parents. We couldn’t contact anyone, and all of us were really scared.”
According to Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 3,500 Nepali students are in Bangladesh for their studies. On Saturday, the ministry said that approximately 800 Nepali students had left Bangladesh for Nepal by air or via land border points.
“We packed our belongings, arranged a vehicle, and moved out at night on our own. We stayed at the airport all night, waiting for entry, and caught our flight in the morning to Kathmandu. We did all this by ourselves,” said Maulata, another Nepali student, sharing her story with ANI.
Nepal’s Foreign Ministry reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring the safety and security of all Nepali students in Bangladesh, which has witnessed violent protests in the past week.
“The Embassy of Nepal in Dhaka has coordinated with most of the students to facilitate their safe travel from various places in Bangladesh to Dhaka airport or to relevant border points,” the ministry said in a post on X late Saturday evening. “It has been closely coordinating with universities, concerned authorities, and law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh.”
Bangladeshi students have intensified their protests against quotas for government jobs, which include a 30 percent reservation for the families of those who fought for independence from Pakistan.
The Bangladesh government ordered all offices and institutions to stay closed for two days after over 120 people were killed during the protests, according to international news agencies. In Dhaka, the epicenter of the protests, security forces set up roadblocks to enforce a curfew.
Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, updating his status on Facebook, claimed the government arranged for Nepali students to return home. “As per the demand of the students’ family members, arrangements have been made to repatriate 17 students studying at Savar-based Enam Medical College via Dhaka airport at 4 am on Sunday,” Prime Minister Oli wrote on social media late Saturday evening. He stated that the initiative came after meeting family members of some students in Bangladesh and asked the concerned people to fill out the online forms arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba posted an ‘urgent notice’ on X, urging students, their guardians, and relatives to submit applications through the online link arranged by the ministry for the same purpose.
As student-led anti-government protests surge in Bangladesh, the country has imposed a curfew and disabled mobile internet services nationwide, citing the need to curb disinformation. Following the curfew, the authorities have also shut down schools and universities indefinitely. Bangladesh announced a nationwide curfew on Friday evening after clashes between police and various student groups killed dozens of people.
The protests began after students violently opposed a new policy reserving a portion of government jobs for descendants of the nation’s freedom fighters. Protesters attacked the state television headquarters in Dhaka and set fire to police booths on Thursday, calling for a “complete shutdown” of the country.
Ongoing street battles between security forces using rubber bullets and tear gas have forced life in several neighborhoods of Bangladesh to a halt. The protests are driven by demands for reform of the country’s quota system for civil service jobs, which reserves positions for specific groups, including descendants of those who participated in the 1971 War of Independence against Pakistan.
Students like Sushmita Kumari, who returned from Bangladesh, vow to go back for their degrees once the situation calms down. “I am in the final years of my studies. I want to complete my studies and need my degree. I will return there if the situation improves. If they hold talks and solve it…” Sushmita Kumari said.
