Operation Ganga: Test of perseverance for Amritsar students

Amritsar, March 5

As part of ‘Operation Ganga’ to evacuate Indians from Ukraine, four students arrived at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport here today. The returnees — Ramnik Kaur of Amritsar, Ravneet Kaur and Gajaldeep of Tarn Taran, and Nikhil of Pathankot — were welcomed by their parents.

Recalling their journey out of Ukraine, Ramnik, an MBBS student at Kharkiv, said every move they made tested their zeal to survive. She took a train out of Kharkiv for Lviv, from where they hired a cab to the border. After a stay of two days, she made it out of the country.

Nikhil said a Kharkiv resident drove him to the railway station, from where he travelled for two days to the border. Along the way, they encountered many challenges. Gajaldeep said she returned safely but there was uncertainty about her degree. During their train journey, priority being given to Ukrainians was stark, she said.

In a video message, MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, who is in Poland to help evacuate Indian students, shared the plight of students coming out of the conflict zone. He interacted with students who had taken refuge at a temple run by the Sindhi community in Warsaw. He also visited a gurdwara there.

One of the students told him during hiding, he spent three days without water. The MP said he would prepare a report and present it in Parliament. —