Indian youth's killing in Ukraine's Kharkiv has parents on the edge

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, March 1

“The moment my mother heard the news of an Indian student being killed in Kharkiv, she went numb. We then immediately called up my brother stranded in Ukraine, who has taken refuge in a Metro station near Kharkiv Medical University and it was after hearing his voice, she regained consciousness,” said Pushpinder Kaur, sister of Milap Singh, a final-year student in Kharkiv Medical University, who hails from Jalandhar.

Appeal for evacuation

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As the border is just 50 km from Kharkiv, the distressed parents have made an appeal to the Centre to initiate talks with the Russian authorities and evacuate their kids from there as they can manage to reach there in the shortest time possible

She said it’s been seven days since her mother hasn’t eaten, slept or talked properly to anyone except her brother. “I just can’t express how we are feeling right now. My mother and father are falling into depression, my grandmother keeps crying the entire day. He is the only son of our family and we all are so worried over his safety,” said Pushpinder, requesting the Indian Government to evacuate them immediately.

Similarly, Surbhi, sister of Nikita Syal, who is stuck in a hostel in Oleksiivska, Kharkiv, said there had to be some way to remove the students from these areas. She said her mother recently got an anxiety attack after they were not able to contact her sister due to network issues. “The situation is getting worse. There are over 100 Indian students along with my sister in Oleksiivska, while there are thousands more stuck in other areas of Kharkiv,” Surbhi added.

She further said, “The evacuation of students stuck in Kharkiv through Hungary, Poland and Romania borders is way too risky as they have to travel around 1,200 to 1,600 km for that. There are continuous airstrikes and shelling in the area, the students can’t afford to leave their bunkers unless the Indian Government makes some arrangements for them.”

There are many other parents who narrated a similar ordeal. As many as 52 families have registered their children’s details with the administration in the past three days.

Talking to The Tribune, Barinder Kumar of Nurmahal said both his sons Karan (21) and Harsh (23), who left for the Poland border from Kyiv on Friday, were no longer in touch with him. “The last time we spoke to them was on Saturday night when they arrived at the Poland border. But ever since then their phones are switched off. We tried to contact their friends, but they said they got separated due to the huge crowd. We don’t know where they are now or if they have crossed the border or not. We’ve made numerous calls to trace their location, but all in vain.”