Visas expiring, Afghan students seek govt help

BQ: No future in Kabul

“My family is in Kabul. But I don’t see chance of any bright future there. Under the Taliban regime, girls can’t think in their wildest dreams of any career-oriented plans,”

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 6

Asmatullah, a 26-year-old Afghan-origin man, who just completed his civil engineering from a centre at Mohali, could not ponder to go back under the Taliban regime. Yet, he will have no choice as his visa was going to expire after three months.

Like him, there are around 300 Afghani students who are left in the lurch as some have completed their graduation while others are in the middle of their studies in various colleges and institutes in Punjab.

Staring at a bleak future, they have a peculiar choice while living in India. Either they go back under the Taliban or stay outside the country, leaving their families behind. Their funds are drying up and they are struggling to make both ends meet.

The United Sikhs (India) came to their rescue and facilitated their meeting with the state Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal.

United Sikhs (India) director Gurpreet Singh said Manpreet, who incidentally was his batchmate in school, was kind enough to hear them patiently. “He announced their instant expenses would be taken care of by the state government for next one year. He has directed the Secretary, Higher Education, Krishan Kumar to do the needful,” he said.

Thousands of miles away from his family living in the Paktika province of Afghanistan, Asmatullah said he had come to India to get a professional degree, but the fall of Kabul had buried his hopes and dreams.

Now, his immediate concern is to get his visa validity extended. He said since banks and business centres had collapsed in Afghanistan, there was no mode of transferring money.

Another student Parwin Noori will finish her degree in computer science engineering next year from an institute affiliated to Punjab Technical University. “My family is in Kabul. But I don’t see chance of any bright future there. Under the Taliban regime, girls can’t think in their wildest dreams of any career-oriented plans,” she said.

Another student doing MBA, Irshad Hashmi, pleaded the Indian government to extend some relaxation. “Can’t the Indian government give us long-term visas because of the critical situation? Can’t the education ministry make an exception for us and reduce the fees?” he asked.