Kyrgyzstan violence: Govt asks Indian students to stay indoors, contact embassy

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar also advised Indian students in Bishkek to stay in regular touch with the embassy. “Monitoring the welfare of Indian students in Bishkek. The situation is reportedly calm now. Strongly advise students to stay in regular touch with the embassy,” he said.

Around 15,000 Indian students are estimated to be in Kyrgyzstan, mostly enrolled in medical colleges and universities. As per reports, an altercation took place between some local students and foreign students at a hostel on May 13, after which people started gathering on Friday to protest what they called was “lax treatment of foreigners involved in the fight”.

While the Kyrgyz government said the situation had been brought under control, police in riot gear remained deployed in parts of Kyrgyzstan’s capital overnight as large crowds gathered to protest the alleged fight between the students. The police were able to disperse the crowd by early Saturday morning.

The students remain apprehensive of the situation flaring up again. Talking to The Sunday Express, Shariya Maheem, whose 22-year-old brother Mohammad Yasar from Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor recently went for his MBBS degree to Bishkek’s International Medical University, said that during their last conversation Yasar sounded very scared. “The situation is seemingly under control now, but it may flare up anytime since groups of local people are still lurking around campuses, which hardly have security or police presence.”

Even moving on the campus or stepping out for an emergency may be unsafe, she said. Yasar had completed his first two semesters in Ukraine but had to leave the country due to the war situation. Maheem said Yasar went to Bishkek a month ago to resume his medical education, like many other students who had to come back home amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Pakistan too has issued a similar advisory for its students, asking them to stay indoors. While some posts on social media claimed that three Pakistani students were killed in the attack, Islamabad said it has not received a report of any deaths yet.

Pakistan’s Kyrgyzstan consulate posted on X, “So far, a few hostels of medical universities in Bishkek and private residences of international students including Pakistanis have been attacked. The hostels are inhabited by students from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. There have been reports of light injuries to several students from Pakistan.” “Despite social media posts about alleged death and rape of Pakistani students, so far, we have not received any confirmed report.”

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign mass media and social networks, especially in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

The ministry said at present the situation in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, is “absolutely calm and fully under control”. All necessary measures have been taken to ensure security and maintain peace and stability, the ministry said. “In this regard, the ministry asks representatives of the media, the blogging community and foreign colleagues to be guided only by official and verified information from the competent authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic,” the statement said.

State National Security Committee Chairman Kamchybek Tashiev was quoted by AKIpress news agency as saying that young people, between 18 and 25 years, gathered in Bishkek on Friday night over concerns about the growing number of migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Egypt and other countries.

Later in the day, the Indian Embassy posted a statement issued by the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, which said they have not received reports on any injured foreign citizens. “The situation was completely under the control of law enforcement agencies. The safety of citizens and public order were ensured,” it said. There are no seriously injured people among the participants. “About 15 citizens applied to medical institutions for medical check-up, it said.

Kyrgyzstan is among the favoured destinations for students from South Asian nations for top-notch medical training. As per the Migration Data Portal, Kyrgyzstan hosted the highest number of international students (61,418) in 2021 among the five Central Asian countries. There are about 14,500 Indian and 10,000 Pakistani students in the country, as per estimates.