Amid the announcement of a nationwide curfew following violent anti-quota protests in neighbouring Bangladesh, 379 students have sought safety in Tripura, on Saturday today.
As students from various parts of India studying in Bangladesh began returning home through different land customs stations and ICPs, including those in Tripura, students from Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Haryana, and other states have been moving back to India via the Agartala Integrated Check Post (ICP). The Border Security Force (BSF) welcomed the students fleeing the tension in Bangladesh.
Hot food, refreshments and water provided to students
At the Akhaura ICP, which connects Akhaura of Bangladesh and Tripura’s capital city Agartala, all students were provided with hot food, refreshments, and water. Speaking to reporters at the Akhaura ICP, a student said, “The college principal and the Indian High Commission yesterday (Friday) recommended that we return to India for our safety.”
Shivansh, a medical student from Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh, and a resident of Chandigarh, said, “The situation isn’t good there. We weren’t feeling safe and we requested the embassy. They sent their officials. BSF helped us a lot, they even helped some students who had issues with visas. We want to thank them.”
Another student added, “As there are no flight tickets available from Bangladesh, we had to travel by cab. We entered India via Agartala Integrated Check Post some time back.”
‘They are being beaten up’
One of the Indian students who returned home through Akhaura ICP today, from Tripura, recounted the tension in Bangladesh, “I am a third-year medical student at a medical college in Moinamoti of Comilla. The situation was very bad in Bangladesh for the last couple of days. Students are protesting against quota reservations in government jobs there. They are being beaten up. Curfew has now been imposed. Nobody can gather outside.”
The student also mentioned that she and her friends were asked to vacate the college hostel and return to their country of origin, prompting many students to rush back home.
Meanwhile, around 20 students entered Tripura through the Srimantapur check post in Tripura’s Sepahijala district today. A student from Tamil Nadu studying at a medical college in Bangladesh returned to India through Srimantapur, stating that the situation in Bangladesh is “so wild” that all foreign students are rushing to safety, with many choosing to move to safe territory through India.
In touch with BGB: BSF DIG of Gokulnagar sector headquarters
BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Gokulnagar sector headquarters Rajib Agnihotri said, “Due to the prevailing situation in Bangladesh, many Indian students studying there are coming back to India. Many have come, and many more are likely to come soon. BSF is in constant touch with Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB).”
A BSF Public Relations Officer (PRO) stated this evening that around 100 students, including those from Nepal, have returned using valid documents in Tripura till 4 PM today, with more expected to arrive. “BSF is closely monitoring the situation across the border and troops are on high alert. BSF Inspector General (IG) from Tripura frontier Patel Piyush Purushottam Das has assured all possible assistance to these students and has further spoken to the Border Guards Bangladesh officers for cooperation at their end,” the statement said.
It also mentioned that the BSF made all necessary arrangements, including refreshments and transport, at the ICP to facilitate the smooth arrival and further movement of these students to their destinations.
A senior BSF official later informed that the number of students arriving in Tripura from Bangladesh, including those entering through other border check posts, has risen to 160. This includes two Nepali students who have already started for their destination from Tripura.
According to rough estimates, 978 Indian students returned home across the country today as a total of 105 lives were lost and over 1500 were injured in the violence across 47 districts of Bangladesh.
What TIPRA Motha said
Tripura ruling alliance partner TIPRA Motha founder and royal scion-turned-politician Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma wrote on his official X handle, “Instability in Bangladesh immediately affects bordering Northeastern states like Tripura, Assam, and Meghalaya. Porous borders and illegal migration affect the tribal people where land is aplenty but not the population. Land laws have to be strengthened in the 6th schedule areas.”
Pradyot Kishore extended sympathy to the people in distress in Bangladesh but added, “Reports of many people crossing over to parts of northeast because of the unrest in Bangladesh. While we understand and are sympathetic to the plight of the people there, our previous experience says that such sympathy made us a minority in our own region.”
His comments refer to the large-scale migration of refugees from East Pakistan before the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, many of whom later stayed in India. According to different tribal political parties, including Motha, Tripuri tribes became a minority in their own state due to large-scale migration and are now among the Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Tripura, an erstwhile princely tribal-majority state.
He voiced concern about the potential further minoritization of tribes in the state, saying, “History shows us that whenever there has been unrest in East Pakistan/Bangladesh, Tripura has suffered the most. I appeal to the GOI to ensure that border vigilance is at the highest alert. GOI should constitutionally secure the indigenous population for future generations.”
The Border Security Force (BSF) welcomed the students fleeing the tension in Bangladesh. (Express Photo) 
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