Over 6700 Indian students have returned to India from Bangladesh: MEA

More than 6700 Indian students have returned to India from Bangladesh and India received excellent cooperation from PM Sheikh Hasina led-government, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday.

While addressing a weekly media briefing, Randhir Jaiswal stated that the Indian High Commission has arranged for the safe and secure travel of Indians to the border crossing points or to the airport, as the case may be. He expressed hope that the situation in Bangladesh will return to normal soon.

Asked about the number of Indians who have travelled back to India, Jaiswal stated, “So far, we have had over 6700 Indian students who have come back from Bangladesh. We’ve received excellent cooperation from the Bangladeshi government. Our High Commission has arranged for their safe and secure travel to the border crossing points or to the airport, as the case may be. They also have several helplines.”

“Both our High Commission and Assistant High Commissions, they are operating 24/7 helplines and all the people who are there, our students and nationals, can reach out to them and they have been rendering whatever assistance that has been requested for. So, that is the update on student movement. We also feel that, being a close neighbour with whom we share very warm and friendly ties, we are hopeful that the situation in the country will return to normal soon,” he added.

In response to another media query regarding developments in Bangladesh, Jaiswal said that India has been closely following developments in the country and considers the ongoing situation as the international matter for Bangladesh.

Speaking on the developments in Bangladesh, he said, “We are aware of the situation in the country. We have been closely following the developments there. India considers the ongoing situation in the country to be the internal matter of Bangladesh. With the support and cooperation of the Bangladesh government, we were able to arrange for safe returns of our students, which we deeply appreciate. Being a close neighbour with whom, as I said earlier, we share warm and friendly ties, we are hopeful that the situation in the country will return to normal soon. So, that is how we see the developments in Bangladesh.”

The protests in Bangladesh have erupted due to demands for reforming the quota system that reserves civil service jobs for specific groups, including descendants of 1971 war veterans. The unrest intensified after students opposed a new policy allocating government jobs to descendants of freedom fighters, leading to violence, including attacks on state television headquarters and police booths in Dhaka. The situation prompted a government curfew, school closures, and nationwide suspensions of mobile and internet services.

Following the protests that resulted in over 100 fatalities, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court intervened, slashing the quota reserved for relatives of war veterans from 30 per cent to 5 per cent while allowing 93 per cent to be allocated based on merit and the remaining 2 per cent will be earmarked for members of ethnic minorities, transgender individuals, and the disabled, Al Jazeera reported, citing, local reports.