Students said a near-total shutdown of internet service hastened their return.
Agartala:
The worsening situation in Bangladesh following weeks of widespread protests has forced Indian students to use any means possible to return home, with more than 300 crossing the northeastern border on Friday alone. More than 100 people have been killed as students across Bangladesh clashed with security forces and pro-government activists over the reintroduction of reservations in government jobs.
The protests, which have been ongoing for at least three weeks, escalated significantly on Monday when violence erupted at Dhaka University, leaving six people dead the following day and prompting the government to order the closure of universities across the country.
Many of the returning students were pursuing MBBS degrees and most of them were from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir. The two main routes used by students to return home on Friday were Akra International Land Port near Agartala in Tripura and Dawki International Land Port in Meghalaya.
The students waited to see what happened but ultimately decided to leave Bangladesh temporarily after a near-total internet shutdown on Thursday and severely affected phone services, effectively cutting off contact with their families, they said.
“I am a second-year student at Marine City Medical College and Hospital in Chittagong. The situation has worsened and a lot of restrictions have been imposed so we have come back. Many other students have also come back. There was no internet, we could not contact our families, we could not get a flight ticket and instead of flying back we had to travel overland to Agartala,” said Aamir, who is from Haryana.
Another student from the same university, Mohammed Faiz Abdullah Khan, said everything was normal for them until they were told not to leave their hostel and hostel premises on Tuesday.
“That’s when we got to know that the quota system had begun. The college authorities said the university would remain closed and when we spoke to the principal, he suggested that we return to India if we were worried. People at the Indian embassy also gave us the same advice and asked us to contact them if we had any difficulty arranging transport. We took a taxi to the Agartala border and have just crossed,” Khan said.
The group of Indian students travelled six hours to reach the home via taxi and security escort.
Meghalaya state authorities said more than 200 Indians had crossed the border to join the protests, including several students from Bhutan and Nepal.
Of the students, 67 are from Meghalaya and seven from Bhutan, the official said, adding that the state government is in touch with the Bangladesh High Commission and Bangladesh Ports Authority to facilitate the safe return of the Indians.
Quota Line
At least 104 people have been killed and more than 2,500 injured in clashes between students, government supporters and security forces. The protests began last month in response to a Supreme Court ruling that gave 30 percent reservation in government jobs to families of freedom fighters and veterans of Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.
The quota system was later halted by Bangladesh’s Supreme Court, but the government is challenging the ruling. Critics of the quota system say it benefits only the ruling Awami League party, led by Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Hasina has been accused of using the quota system to reward party supporters, and protesters say it has hindered their job prospects.
Prime Minister Hasina appeared on television to address protesters on Wednesday, who responded the next day by setting fire to a building owned by the state broadcaster where the speech was broadcast.
