Around 150 students return to Tripura from Bangladesh amid protests
Jul 21, 2024
Agartala (Tripura) [India], July 21 : Amid the ongoing countrywide protests in Bangladesh against job quotas, around 150 Indian students from Bangladesh arrived through the Integrated Check Post here.
The students arrived in Agartala on Saturday.
Rajeev Agnihotri DIG, Sector Commander, Border Security Force (BSF), said that around 150 students have comeback through different ICPs.
"Due to the current situation in Bangladesh, the Indian and foreign students who were studying there are coming back through different ICPs (Integrated Check Post)...till now around 150 students have come back through different ICPs. BSF is making all the necessary arrangements for this," he said.
Vishal Kumar, District Megistrate, West Tripura, said, "In the last 4-5 days, anti-reservation protests have been going on in Bangladesh, and especially the students and other citizens of neighbouring countries like India have been greatly affected by them. Almost their entire system is under seizure. Due to this, many of our citizens are coming to our country, including many people from Tripura, especially yesterday and today, many students and many of our Indians who have gone there due to different occupations are coming."
Meanwhile, EAM Jaishankar said on Saturday that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is focused on ensuring the safety and well-being of Indian nationals in Bangladesh.
Sharing the update on the return of Indian nationals in Bangladesh on X, which was posted earlier by the official spokesperson of MEA, Randhir Jaiswal, the EAM wrote, "Appreciate the concern of families and well wishers of Indian nationals in Bangladesh."
"MEA is fully focused on ensuring their safety and well being. The current situation is as below," Jaishankar said further.
In its official release earlier Saturday, the High Commission of India in Dhaka and the Assistant High Commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Khulna have been assisting the return of Indian nationals home following the recent developments there.
In order to facilitate safe travel, the MEA is also coordinating with civil aviation, immigration, land ports and Border Security Force (BSF) authorities.
The protests in Bangladesh have been driven by demands for reform in the country's quota system for civil service jobs, which reserves positions for specific groups, including descendants of those who participated in the 1971 War of Independence against Pakistan.
Bangladesh has imposed a curfew, and the authorities have disabled mobile internet services nationwide, citing the need to curb disinformation, according to The Washington Post.
