ISLAMABAD: The Indian apathy towards the people of war-hit Afghanistan stood exposed as the Narendra Modi government revoked the visas of Afghan students enrolled in Indian universities.
According to the media reports, out of an estimated 14,000 Afghan students currently enrolled in 73 Indian universities, about 2,500 have been restrained from returning to India who were desperate to continue their education.
Such a callous Indian attitude towards Afghan people is nothing new as India was among the first nations that closed their missions in Afghanistan, suspended flights between New Delhi and Kabul, and also halted bank payments to the Afghan government.
The Indian government’s decision to revoke Afghan students’ visas has exposed the claims of the Indian government’s so-called renewed friendly and humanitarian overtures towards Afghans.
Contrary to India, Pakistan has offered 4,500 fully-funded scholarships to Afghan students in addition to already existing ones.
Since August 2021, out of 60,000 Afghan applications, India has granted less than 300 e-visas and that too to Afghan Sikhs and Hindus which was the manifestation of the Hindutva mindset of the BJP-led government.
In addition to repression at home, drained finances, and visa woes, Afghan students face the apathy of Indian universities. Although Afghan students have paid their dues, students at various Indian universities have cut contact with their Afghan students.
Recently, hundreds of Afghan students also held a demonstration outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul seeking visas to complete their studies in India.
The protesting students still have not been able to return to resume their courses after COVID restrictions were lifted in India.
In a statement, Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar claimed that nobody could doubt India’s feelings for Afghan people.
The Indian media quoted him saying that the visa issuance would be restarted once certain level of trust and efficiency was achieved with Afghanistan, which, according to the analysts manifested the Indian hypocrisy.
Afghan students enrolled in India claim that authorities in the Indian universities often accused them of being potential drug peddlers and terrorists.
Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay also expressed concerns over New Delhi’s concerns about security wherein he said that “No Afghan citizen has ever carried out any major terror attack in another country, so these students should not be unnecessarily suspected on security grounds”.
India has granted 950 scholarships for the upcoming 2022-23 session to only those Afghan students who were already in India for studies, Afghan refugees from 1996-2001 or those Afghans who came to India before August 2021.
Recently, the Indian authorities also unnecessarily delayed the visa of Afghanistan cricketer Asghar Afghan just because his passport has been stamped with Pakistani visa with his family members also living there.
Contrary to this, Pakistan had granted visas to the Afghanistan squad ahead of September 2021 one-day international cricket series in Sri Lanka because they were unable to board flights from their own country following the Taliban takeover.
