Deadly Protests In Bangladesh Force Over 300 Indian Students To Return Home

The worsening situation in Bangladesh has led Indian students to return home using any available means.

Over 300 students crossed through border points in the northeast on Friday alone, fleeing the violent protests over the reintroduction of reservation in government jobs.

Photo Credit: PTI

The clashes between students, government supporters, and security forces have resulted in over 100 deaths and more than 2,500 injuries, reported NDTV.

The protests, ongoing for at least three weeks, escalated massively on Monday with violence at Dhaka University. The following day, six people were killed, prompting the government to close universities nationwide.

Many returning students were pursuing MBBS degrees and hailed from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Meghalaya, and Jammu and Kashmir. Key routes for their return included the international land ports at Akhurah near Agartala in Tripura and Dawki in Meghalaya.

The students decided to leave Bangladesh after a near-total internet shutdown on Thursday and severe impacts on telephone services cut them off from their families.

"I am a second-year student at the Marine City Medical College and Hospital in Chittagong. The situation is getting worse and many restrictions have been put in place, which is why we have returned. Many other students have also come back. The internet is not working and we were not able to get in touch with our families. We could not get flight tickets and had to take the road route to Agartala instead of flying home," said Aamir from Haryana.

Mohammed Faiz Abdullah Khan, another student from the same college, described the sudden change in their circumstances:

"That's when we found out a quota movement was on. College authorities said the institution would remain shut and, when we spoke to the principal, he suggested that we could return to India if we were feeling insecure. People at the Indian Embassy also gave us the same advice and asked us to get in touch with them if we found it difficult to arrange transportation. We took a cab to the Agartala border and have just crossed over."

Several Indian students undertook a six-hour journey by taxi, escorted by security, to reach home.

In Meghalaya, officials reported that over 200 Indians crossed the border due to the protests. A few students from Bhutan and Nepal also entered India.

An official noted that 67 of the students were from Meghalaya and seven from Bhutan, adding that the state government was coordinating with the Bangladesh High Commission and the Bangladesh Land Port Authority to ensure the safe return of Indians.

The protests began last month after a high court reinstated a 30 percent reservation in government jobs for family members of freedom fighters and veterans from Bangladesh's 1971 War of Independence.

Critics argue that this quota benefits only the ruling Awami League party led by Sheikh Hasina, who has been accused of using the reservation to reward party loyalists. Protesters contend that the quota hinders their job prospects.

On Wednesday, Hasina appeared on television to address protesters, who responded a day later by setting fire to a building owned by the state broadcaster that had aired her speech.