EDITORIAL: Aggressive public demonstrations in the Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek and other cities are quite normal but not the kind of violence that occurred on May 13 against international students, including Pakistanis.
Enraged mobs entered the foreign students’ hostel and beat them up so badly that many with serious injuries landed in hospital. According to those attacked, Kyrgyz students and some local people broke into their rooms hitting them hard and also vandalized their belongings.
It is unclear what triggered the fury of Kyrgyz students. Initial reports put the source of trouble on a rather dubious reason: an argument between the local and Egyptian students over Gaza. Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbeck Kulubayev has been quoted as saying that the incident in Bishkek was caused by a “misunderstanding”, which seems to have been something the local people felt offended their culture. In any event, there was no justification whatsoever for the violence let loose on all foreign students.
As videos circulating on social media showed scared Pakistani students pleading for help Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered his ambassador to Bishkek to make all possible arrangements for the return home of the injured students on government expense as well as others who may wish to come back.
As of May 19, over 350 of them had arrived in Islamabad and Lahore via special flights. Sindh too received students from Bishkek at Jinnah Terminal on Thursday. More are to follow in the next few days. However, in Balochistan a person said to be an educationist came to the Quetta Press Club on Sunday to complain that nothing was being done to bringing back more than 300 students from that province, including his two children, a son and a daughter.
Furthermore, he said, while the federal government was repatriating students from other provinces free of cost, parents of Baloch students were being asked to pay Rs 100,000 for the safe return of their children. He appealed to the Balochistan Chief Minister, Governor and Education Minister to take notice of the situation and make amends.
The federal government should pay urgent attention to his concern and address it in a satisfactory manner. Meanwhile, at presser in Lahore on Sunday Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar iterated that the government would cover the expenses of students wishing to return, and that they should register with the embassy. He needs to ensure that the embassy officials facilitated all such requests.
There are as many as 11,000 Pakistani students enrolled in various Kyrgyz universities and medical schools offering education at comparatively low fees and degrees that are well-recognised in other countries. They would want to pursue their studies.
Dar told journalists his Kyrgyz counterpart had repeatedly assured him that there was no need to panic, and that those involved in violence were being arrested and penalised. This is important. But our embassy will have to remain watchful for any untoward development.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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