Parents of students stuck in Ukraine slam Indian Govt for 'lax approach'

GS Paul

Amritsar, February 28

Amid the mounting tension, distressed parents, whose children are stranded mainly in Kharkiv and Kyiv, today criticised the Indian Government for its “lackadaisical approach” in evacuating students from Ukraine.

Amid confusion prevailing over contradictory advisories issued to students, some parents have gone to New Delhi to lodge their protest with the Ministry of External Affairs.

They also sought intervention of local MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla. The MP said the government’s move to send its ministers to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries appeared to be just an eyewash. “Students stuck in Kharkiv and Kviv are 1,500 km away from Poland or Romania borders. Why is the Indian Government hesitating to convince the Russian authorities to help evacuate the stranded students from Belarus, located just 50-60 km away? We will stage a dharna in New Delhi on the issue.”

Lalit Shanghari, whose daughter is studying at Kharkiv National Medical University, said the students who had returned were already in the safe western zone of Ukraine. “The real problem lies in Kharkiv and Kyiv, which are thousands of km away from the safe zone. Along with thousands of her classmates, she has taken shelter in an underground Metro station. They are short of food and even water. India boasts of having cordial diplomatic ties with Russia, what is the use of it if we can’t ensure safe evacuation of our children,” he asked.

Seema, whose son Saksham Sharma had gone last month for a medicine course in a university, said the diplomatic ties between India and Russia had drastically failed. “The Poland border is 16 hours away from the place where my son has taken shelter. How can the Indian Embassy ask the students to reach the railway station on their own for journey to the western side amid heavy shelling?”