Kathmandu: A few minutes after former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina fled to India, a group of youths stormed into a medical university in Dhaka. Protestors set classrooms on fire, vandalized hospital beds, and destroyed medical equipment. They were searching for students who were studying on scholarships at the medical college, specifically targeting Hindu students for attacks.
The reason behind their actions, according to students, was that the principal had been appointed by the Sheikh Hasina-led government.
Nepali medical students who spoke with The DMN News described the situation at this university on August 5 as horrific. “The extremist group was vandalizing the medical college and the hospital. They were armed with long, sharp weapons, and their targets were the principal, students on scholarships, and Hindu students,” according to Nepali students. “The situation is still the same.”
Fortunately, the security guards at the university managed to lock foreign students, including Nepalis, inside the international hostel block. “If the guards had responded even a little later, we [Hindu students] would have been attacked with sharp weapons,” two students from the university told The DMN News. Both spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Currently, at least eight Nepali students are working as intern doctors at this medical university.
The same day, terrified Nepali students contacted the Dhaka-based Nepal Embassy, and described the situation at their medical school. However, the response from the officials was irresponsible and inhumane, they describe.
The Nepali Embassy ensured the students that it is in contact with university officials, and they have assured Nepali students are being kept safe on campus. However, students say they live in constant fear as mobs armed with sharp weapons and guns are entering the college premises and attacking everyone. “While embassy officials say they are discussing plans to send Nepali students back to Nepal, we are left questioning: When will that happen? After we are attacked? Or only when it’s too late?,” they questioned.
One Nepali student currently interning at a medical school in Dhaka shared that, since August 5, gunshot wounds, injuries from sharp weapon attacks, and cases of rods being inserted into heads and bodies have become common in the emergency department.
A Nepali student from another university shared an even more horrific situation. “Rioters, who initially began their demonstrations advocating for rights, have now crossed boundaries. The violence has reached a point where mobs are checking students’ private parts for circumcision. Those who do not have evidence of circumcision are attacked,” students recounted the chaos. “The situation here is inhumane, and out of control.”
A few foreign students have already been attacked in Delta Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka.
When violent protests erupted in Bangladesh in mid-July over the quota controversy, Nepali students at a medical school reached out to the Nepal Embassy in Dhaka for assistance in getting to the border, as the Indian government was already facilitating such evacuations. However, the Nepal Embassy did not provide any vehicles or support for crossing the border. As they got no support and response on time, the Nepali students sought help from the Indian Embassy, which assisted about 20 Nepali students from this medical school in crossing the Bangladeshi border and entering Nepal through Kakarvitta.
Although Nepali foreign ministry officials claim that the Nepal Embassy in Dhaka was providing vehicles for students to reach the airport or Indian border, the students reported that they did not receive such support.
“Currently, mobs and extremist groups are attacking everyone on the streets of Bangladesh. The situation is so dire that terrified students cannot even reach the nearest airports to return home. They are confined to their universities, hoping that the Nepali government will come to their rescue.
“Even more terrifying is that Nepali students are Hindus, and Hindus are being specifically targeted by these mobs. We can’t go out onto the streets without security patrols,” the students said. They said that the Indian and Pakistani governments have already safely escorted its students to the airport, and those who are stranded in Bangladesh are being sheltered safely at the embassy premises.
“We [Nepali students] are pleading for similar support, but the Nepal Embassy is not taking this issue seriously. Sometimes, they don’t even respond to our calls.”
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a total of 400 Nepali students are currently in Bangladesh, while 1,400 have already returned to Nepal. However, students claim that 900 Nepali students are still stranded in Bangladesh.
Currently, the majority of Nepali students stranded in Bangladesh are intern doctors who want to return home immediately. They did not return to Nepal at the end of July when junior students were evacuated because they needed to complete their internships in Bangladesh.
Nepali law requires that students complete their studies, including internships, in the country where they are enrolled.
A group of students, who returned from Bangladesh, recently met Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Bidya Bhattarai, and Minister for Health and Population, Pradip Paudel requesting to arrange internships in Nepal. However, no concrete decision has been made by either of these ministries.
According to the students, India and many other foreign countries allow students to complete their internships in their home country after finishing a five-year medical course. Nepal also permitted Nepali medical students to intern in Nepal during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to 2010, Nepal had allowed such internships for students studying medicine abroad.
On Thursday, Bangladesh’s incoming interim leader Muhammad Yunus appealed for calm. “Violence is our enemy. Please don’t create more enemies. Be calm and get ready to build the country,” Yunus said.
Human Right Watch, an international non-governmental organization that investigates and reports on abuses happening in all corners of the world, has also stated: “In several districts around the country, members of the Hindu community, which is generally considered to have largely backed the Awami League, were violently attacked, their homes torched, temples vandalized, and shops looted.”
*The names of universities are not stated for the purpose of protecting sources.
Comment